Bad Business
by TreeFiddy4
Summary: Derick blackmailed Sam Marsh and Levy Broflovski into joining him and Kendall in the business venture of selling magazines [A South Park Sam Marsh Au]
1. Chapter 1: Of Hooks and Schemes

"Absolutely not, I am not selling those things," Levy claimed as he folded his arms in frustration. Derek snorted.

"Come on, five bucks a pop and we will have a lot of money at the end of the week." he coaxed as he pats his backpack. Levy scoffed, "No way in Hell! My dad will kill me if he finds out I was selling those..those..things!" he nearly shrieked.

Sam places a hand on his shoulder; "Shut it- the whole town might hear you."

Derek looks at Sam and Levy with an irritated look. "Is it yes or no? I don't have time for this."

Levy looks at Derek now debating on what he should do. What did Derek have in mind? what would he do if he said no? Surely he had nothing up his sleeves but then again he was talking to the son of Eric-fucking-Cartman. the double edge sword coming through. Levy takes a deep breath and with a stern look, he says no.

Derek slowly formed a smirk as he reached into his coat pocket. "I figured you would say that you know what? I wonder what your dad and Sam's mom will do if he found out what kind of crap you two burnt yesterday." Levy and Sam's eyes widened as they looked at each other. "So what'll be?"

Sam sighed heavily finally giving in, "How many stacks are we suppose to sell?"

"Sam!" Levy shouts, "Your mother will shread you to pieces!"

As Levy and Sam were discussing, Derek was sorting through his backpack for a small stack and wrapped it in a newspaper with a rubber band holding it all together. "Good choice. I want your commission at the end of the week, I'll stop by your place early in the morning and collect the dough." he hands the stack to Sam who stares at it with wide, fearful eyes. Derek flung his backpack over his shoulder and began to descend from the clubhouse ladder. A tall tree with a shed practically built on top of it, a tacky one, but it's home for the boys who hung around in it religiously.

Levy looks at Sam once more and groans in frustration. "Why do you give in so easily? Surely you didn't get that from your mother." Sam sighs with a flat grin, he nods. "No, I definitely got it from my dad." He stuck the stack into his binder and slid it into his backpack. "Do you think I'll be able to sell this many Playboys at the end of the week?"

"Nope, but I'll help you out...It's barely Tuesday for Christ's sake."

"Why don't you sell some too? You can pay your dad back for that time you stole forty ...Derek won't delete the video unless we do it."

Levy stares at Sam. "Yeah, but I- it- ugh...Hold on."

Derek pulled his bike out from the shrubs from the side of the tree and swore loudly as he does so. Levy stuck his head out of the entryway and calls out to Derek who looks up. "Hey! I...uh. I'll sell a stack.." he mumbled at the end of his sentence. Derek smiled cheekily, "I'm sorry, what?"

Levy scrunched his nose, "I'll sell stacks-"

"One more time?" he calls out

"I'll sell your stupid stacks!" Levy shouted at him. His asshole of a friend tore his backpack off and grabbed a stack larger than the one he gave Sam and Levy looked even more irritated. Derek held up the newspaper wrapped PlayBoys up towards Levy who reaches down with Sam holding his legs. "Same goes for you Brofloski!, I'll stop by your house and collect the cash!" Derek stood beside his bike before mounding on it as Levy stared his stack with slight rage.

"Later losers!" he peddled off to his next destination.

With the sun nearly setting Derek knew he had to get to the other side of town. he crossed the railroads and skid across a yard as he looks at the semi-large oak tree residing on the side with a tire swing.

Derek set his bike aside and walked up to the swing, he is met with a familiar dirty blonde kid. the kid looks up from the book he was reading and stares at Derek.

"What's up, fattso?" Derek hits the top of his head.

"Shut it, Kendall. I have an offer for you." he removes his backpack and sits himself down in front of Kendall who joins him. "I have an idea that might color you interested." he pulls out a copy of a playboy that immediately makes his eyes light up. "I'm interested."

"The same thing I told Levy and Sam, I'll give you these Playboys if you sell them by the end of the week."

Kendall skimmed through a copy with a bored expression. "These are all new...the retro ones are better."

"Sell them five dollars each." he interrupted, "that's all, sell them for five dollars each and I'll come back for the money early in the morning on Friday." he looks at Kendall with a stern look who looks at him completely unfazed. "Yeah, Ok. I'm down." he shakes Derek's hand and gets his stack. "Five a pop, Friday the dough." he looks at Kendall in the hope he will remember. Derek leaves the yard and began to bike away, Kendall waves goodbye and picks the stack making his way back to his room.

On his way past the living room, Kendall's mother stopped him.

"Excuse me young man, but was that Derek Cartman on our lawn just now?" She put a hand on her hip and Kendall shrugged.

"Yeah, he gave me tonight's art homework. drawing portraits that inspire us." he lied. she stares at him very skeptical before letting him pass and into his room. Kendall shut the door to his room before sorting out the magazines into different piles, one half being kept here and the other half will be kept in his locker. the gym one- he re-wrapped the small pile in newspaper and set them on his desk. He reached over to the land phone and began to dial a few people on his list. "Jake Donovan..." he let the phone ring until an adult voice answered.

"Hello? Hey, is Jake there?... I got some stuff to tell him- no this can't wait till the morning. What if I died in the morning? in my sleep? or I get suffocated by a lunatic!- Hey Jake, buddy! boy do I have news for you." after twenty minutes Kendall hung up the phone and placed an issue to the side with a sticky note titled;'Donovan.'

"On to the next man-" He exclaims triumphantly.

Levy biked to his home with his head stuck in the clouds. very-very-grey clouds, he arrived at the driveway and made his way to the garage to leave his bike within it. He goes through the front only to be greeted by his dad. "Hey, Levy. How was your day?" he stopped writing on his laptop to take a moment to look at his son.

"Hey. dad," Levy says trying not to sound too startled or worried. "it was, great. uh, Sam and I rode over to Stark's pond and fed some geese. but they got too aggressive and we had to jam." he took his helmet off as he walked towards the staircase. "Hold on a moment." Levy felt a lump in his throat as he turned to his Dad. "Yeah?"

"I need your help cleaning out the basement. Your uncle's going to come and stay with us for a while. before the weekend of course."

Levy silently cursed, whenever his uncle came around him and his dad takes the time to clean the basement since it was nicer than the rooms upstairs. A futon couch, who wouldn't sleep on that? that meant it will take the entire week, and Levy needed to get those damn magazines out of his backpack and out of his atmosphere for good.

He nods his head. "You got it, Dad. if you need me, Ima just be upstairs working on-on a new model!" his Dad nods and returns to writing. "Oh hey, I'm meeting this manager at the museum and I wondered if you-Levy?" his eyes followed the sound of rushed footsteps and a slammed door. "...wanted to go." he sighs as he shook his head.

Levy emptied out his backpack and held up the stack. he already felt his face fluster at the thought of opening the wrapping. he was teased and called a prude for not liking these sorts of things, it wasn't his fault. it's all so weird- he picks up his phone and began to message Sam.

Sam walked up to his house with a small limp. he folded his ankle from running away from the geese. he opened the front door and was greeted by his mother. "Hiya, mom." He says sheepishly as he tossed his shoes off. "Hello, Sammy. and where did you go today?"

He thought about it for a moment. "To the pond, feed geese and hung out with Levy." she nods as she listens to his day. he walked towards the staircase until his mother pointed out his limp. "May I ask, why are you limping?" Sam stared at his ankle barely now noticing the slight black and blue on it, heh, like a banana.

"I think it was when I folded it when I tried getting away from the geese." he shrugged and his mother sighed.

"You need to be more careful, Stanly. your son hurt himself." she walked towards Sam who panicked slightly if they stopped them they'll check up on him, take his bag, probably examine it to see if anything got wet- He looks at his mom. "Look-Sparky pissed on the couch again!" he pointed to the dog who was exiting the room, his mom quickly turned around and went after the dog."Ugh! Sparky! Sam, I will check that ankle. don't you dare think I will forget."

"Oh I know you won't," he mumbled as he quickly stumbled to his room slamming it shut. he threw his backpack on the bed. he heard his phone vibrate and pulled it out, from Levi.

"'How's your stack going?' " he read out loud, he took the moment to think about what to write.

"I just got home, what do you expect?" he hit send and got another response.

"'Think he'll actually show the video?'... No, I don't think so. not until he gets his money."

Levy read the message and sighed heavily. "Son of a bitch!"

"Levy! Dinner!" he sat up quickly.

"Uh. coming mom!" he threw his backpack under his desk and pushed his chair in. "it's only for the week-it's only for a week." he patted down his sweater and made his way out of his room.

Sam turned his phone off and shoved the magazines carefully into his backpack.

"Sam, dinner time!" his dad called from downstairs.

"On my way!" Sam placed his bag into his closet then quickly shutting it. He removed his hat and placed it on the dresser then made his way out. "aw beans..." he looks back at his room door before going.

Kendall wakes up at the sound of his mom knocking on his door.

"Ken! Time for dinner." he sits up and looks at his small pile. so far he sold ten-he slid them underneath his pillow and got up to go eat.

"Still should have gone for the retro ones. would have sold more of those Madonna jugs." he closes the door to his room and made his way quickly to the dining room.

Derek pulled out his reheated leftovers and made his way to the living room floor.

He rested his plate on the coffee table and proceeded to watch his cartoons. The cat hopped onto the table and sniffed his food, he pulls the plate away slightly.

"No, Mr. Kitty this is my spaghetti. maybe next time." he looked at the clock with a shrug. "Oh well." he held a post-it note his parents left him and set it aside. "let me watch Voltron darn it."

And with that, the boys went to bed all on edge, minus Derek and Kendall, and prayed for a better morning that what the night has become.


	2. Chapter 2: H I V Negative

"I just can't _believe_ it!" Levy growls, nearly crushing his hand as he slammed the locker shut.

"How did Kendall sell more than us? He sold ten issues in one day!" He looks over to the ravenette male in response, earning a shrug from Sam. The male stormed over to Derick, whom stood farther down the hall and was chatting with Jake. The brunette male heard Levy's boots, but before he could turn around or act Levy grabbed him by the collar of his jacket and dragged him over to his locker.

"Kendall is apart of this?" He whispershouted, to which Derick nods.

"Well, _duh_," Derick says, as if it was common knowledge. He glares at Levy, poking his index finger into the redhead's chest. "And it was worth it, because he sold more than the two of you must have by the looks of it." His suspicions were confirmed when he saw Sam's open locker, the familiar newspaper wrapping sticking from the side. Sam looked at his stack awkwardly, shuffling his feet absentmindedly.

"How many have you two sold, anyways? _One_? _Two_?" Derick inquires, not bothering to try and hide the snicker he lets out. Levy shook Derick aggressively, earning yelps from the male.

"What's Kendall getting out of it?"

Derick continues to glare at Levy and removes his hand from his coat. "You really are your dad's kid," he lets out a sigh, before speaking again, his continuing glare contradicting his now less harsh of a tone. "Kendall isn't getting anything out of this other than the leftover playboys."

Levy sent him one last glare before dropping him. Sam stared with widened eyes as he shut his locker at the sound of heels rapidly hitting the ground that head towards them, expecting it to be some kid nosying around or a staff member. Instead, it was Kendall.

"Gentlemen." The dirty blonde reached under Sam since his locker was underneath his, rummaging inside the metal box for something. Levy glared at him with an irritated look and Kendall glanced to the side to look at him after feeling his stare. "I suddenly feel like an object.."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Levy questioned.

"You're staring at me." Kendall furrows his brows. "Did I do something wrong? Because it looks like you're about to deck me-"

"I am, and I will!" Levy shouted at him in a threatening tone.

Kendall took a moment to realize what was going on.

"Oh," is all that left the blonde's lips, as the realization began to dawn further. A grin etched on his lips, seemingly forgetting(or perhaps just ignoring) the glare he still received from Levy, as he said, "Are you two apart of the whole business too?"

"What do you think, Sherlock?" Levy says, still irritable but lowering his tone as not to draw more attention than the three of them already had held. "Yeah, we _are_. Besides, couldn't you have just bought some? Are you even interested in the ones Dereck is selling?"

"Looks like someone pays attention to my interests" Kendall teases, but when he gets a confused glance from Levy(and equally weirded out ones from Sam and Derick, the second still standing there for some unknown reason), he elaborates, closing his locker with an unsatisfied sigh from not finding whatever he was looking for, and then leaning against the lockers. "Yeah, I'm more into the retro ones. Just got the classic look to them, you know?"

"No, I _don't_ know, actually," Levy states, shaking his head as he sighed through his nostrils. The young Broflovski male sticks his hands into the pockets of his gray jeans as he begins to tap his foot against the slick and hard flooring if the hallway, waiting for one of his friends to speak. Save for his hair not sharing much of the curly gene Kyle had possessed, Levy held a striking resemblance to his father as a child. Of course, most of the four did, in some way or another, with their mothers' genes only changing some parts.

"Hey, guys!"

The sudden voice brought the four students back to the reality around them, the continuing chatter of their fellow peers among them, the atmosphere anything but calm but not chaotic. As they looked in the direction of the voice, they saw Jake, a grin placed on the male's lips as he scampered over to them in an excited fashion.

"What's up?" Sam says, a smile on his lips as Jake slowed down before stopping beside Derick, panting for breath as he rested his hands on his knees for a second. Jake was unfortunate(but told otherwise by the girls) enough to get the baby fat his father had gotten as a child, but he was a bit more out of shape than his father was.

"Hey, do one of you happen to have another one of those magazines Kendall selled me?" Jake asks, standing up again after regaining his breathing.

Kendall lets out a chuckle, snapping his fingers.

"Why, yes, actually -"

"Actually, _I_ happen to!" Levy butts in, throwing a hand over Kendall's mouth to silence him from speaking. The redhead wore a smile, seemingly pulling out a newspapered magazine from nowhere as he hurries over to Jake. Jake grins more, pulling out cash as he flicks through the dollar Bill's before handing over the dued amount, Levy exchanging the porno after getting the money. Neither of them, nor Sam or Derick happened to noticed the irritated look Kendall wore from Levy's sudden butting in, but rolled his eyes quietly as he stuffed his hands into the pockets of the ocean blue parka he wore, watching the exchange as he propped one of his legs behind him against one of the lower lockers. While Levy thumbs through the cash, he stops mid count, looking up at Jake with a puzzled look. Jake returns the look, furrowing a brow.

"What? Wrong amount?"

"No, no," Levy says, shaking his head, but his puzzled look remains. "I thought you probably got one from Kendall, guess that's all."

"Oh, I did!" Jake says, laughing a little as he waves the rolled up porno magazine towards Levy. "I'm just going to show Luke and Teddy that there's a bit more to life than they know!"

A short silence falls on the group, as Sam and Levy stare at Jake with wide eyes, Kendall wearing a grin while Derick started to laugh.

"You're going to _exploit them_?!" Levy interjects, his hands running through his hair hysterically as Sam remained in quiet surprise.

"I wouldn't quite say '_exploit_'-"

"_That's_ my boy!" Derick cackles as he leans towards Jake, wrapping his arm around the brunette's shoulder as a smirk played on his lips. Jake shared a laugh as well, with Kendall still grinning and letting out a small chuckle with them. The ravenette and redheaded males remained quiet, until Sam finally spoke up.

"Dude! Those two are probably as innocent as their parents!"

"Which is why," Derick says, unhooking his arm from Jake to cross his arms over his overweight chest mass, "we're going to do the job our old mans' should have done! Now, onward, Donovan!"

And the two set off in the opposite direction, Kendall gave Sam and Levy a wave before following closely behind. Sam watched as Levy let out a huff, turning to face him with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Those two are finished."

"Yeah, but look on the bright side," Sam says, shrugging a little as he sends the Broflovski a grin. "You got one magazine off your stack."

Levy let out a sigh, unhooking one of his arms and scratch the back of his neck. "Yeah, _one_. We gotta sell a lot more if we don't want our asses handed to us."

"You bet".

"Sam, how many did you sell so far?"

"Er..probably six?"

Levy let out a groan, running a hand through his hair as he sat down in his living room. Neither of his parents were home at the time, so the two decided to crash over at Levy's place for the time being to try and hatch a plan to get rid of the porno magazines while they can(a.k.a., _selling them_). Sam sat down beside him, turning his bag over to empty out the remaining magazines that began to fall on the ground. The ravenette had better luck than Levy selling the pornos, though he had a lot to get rid of still.

Levy studied his friend a little as he started to organize the pornos into who-knows-what piles.

"Hey, I meant to ask earlier, but how's your ankle doing?"

Sam halts in his organizing, looking over to Levy before shrugging. "Better, I guess. Not limping this morning, so I guess I'm in the clear."

Levy nods as he lets out a hum in acknowledgement, before starting to toss out his own magazines to try and organize them. But as he stares at the pile of different coloured schemes, it's obvious he has no clue where to start. "Think Kendall knows a thing or two about organizing pornos?" The redhead finally asks, looking up to only see his friend give him a shrug.

"Probably. Go call him."

"That's what I'm doing," Levy says, pushing himself up and heading into the kitchen to look for the homephone. Being a third grader, his parents didn't think he needed to have a phone at this age. Of course, he probably wouldn't use it as much as most kids his age would, but having his own phone would definitely be handy sometimes for times like these.

Levy grabbed the black phone from the block charger it was bought with, and looked over the paper beside it until he got to the 'McCormick Household' number, and started dialing the phone number beside it.

He leaned against the counter as he pressed the phone to his ear, listening as the phone rung once, then twice. On the third ring, someone picked up, and a familiar, feminine voice was on the other end.

"McCormick residence, how can I help you?"

It was Kendall's mother.

"Hey, Mrs. McCormick!" Levy said, smiling to himself as he absentmindedly glanced over to the opening that lead into the living room. Sam was looking over to Levy, quiet and still before mouthing, 'Kendall?'

'His mom', Levy mouthed back, before speaking into the phone again, "Hey, is Kendall there, by chance?"

"Yes, he is. I'll tell him it's you."

"Thanks," Levy responds, before hearing shuffling on the other end, and then a new voice appearing.

"Need something?" Kendall's voice says on the line, cracking a little.

"Yeah, need some help with organizing some of the pornos."

Kendall made a hushing sound on the other end, and Levy heard some more shuffling, before hearing a door creak twice. "What was that about?"

"Needed to go somewhere private. Dad may have been a perv, but mom would probably not go with the 'joke about _the talk_' ordeal like he probably would."

Levy makes an "ahh" sound in agreement, turning and now leaning his stomach against the counter while he stared out the window, not focusing on anything in particular while Kendall began to speak.

"So, you needed help in organizing the mags?" Kendall says, shortening the word 'magazine' while Levy a hum to confirm it. "I usually do it by the years they were printed. Makes it easier to get to the older or newer ones depending on the customer's fancy."

_The hell didn't I think of that? _Levy thought, though he said, "Good idea."

Kendall let out a laugh, before he says, "Obviously! How do you think I'm the best with haggling and selling these beauties? You handle them gingerly."

Levy couldn't help but raise an eyebrow to that, knowing very well Kendall was probably anything _but_ gingerly, especially with his flirting and choice of interests. "Sure," he finally says, rolling his eyes absently.

"Need the pro to come over? I can most definitely get you a head start; maybe even give you a few tips for spending time with the ladies?"

"Both offers declined, but thanks," Levy says. After they exchange goodbyes, Levy hung up, putting the phone back before heading into the living room again, where Sam had been waiting.

"Well?" Sam asks, raising a brow to the redhead as he took a seat beside him, starting to shuffle with his own pile of magazines. "What'd Kendall say?"

"Said I should organize them by dates."

"How the hell did we not think of that?"

"That's what I thought," Levy says, looking over the front of a magazine, before turning it over to look for a date of some sorts on the back. Finding one in thin print, he reads the year, seeing it be the same one they were in currently, and tosses it to the side to start its own pile. He continues this method until the last unmarked magazine was put into its rightful pile. He put the periods into years of five between each other, so there wasn't an exact year for each magazine(only a few in different periods shared the same years). But despite the sick interest he'd now have to deal with until he got them off his hands, he did feel at least somewhat accomplished for getting some of this chaos in order.

"How's your pile doing?" Levy then asks, looking over to see what progress Sam had made. However, instead of seeing a few piles, he found two stacks, one piled a little higher than the other, with one in Sam's hands and a flush of pink on his cheeks. "Jesus, you _too_?"

"Well, I couldn't help but wonder why Kendall and Derick all like this stuff, so I thought I'd have a peak," Sam defends, though his flush turns a bit brighter knowing he had been caught. "Though, I can definitely see why they take pleasure in looking at these."

"No kidding," Levy says, laughing a little before going silent. They both heard something, though neither could put their finger on it. While Levy got up to inspect the window, Sam began to scramble with his piles, stuffing them hurriedly into his bag.

As Levy pulled the curtain away to peer outside, he let out a string of short curses when he saw his father's vehicle pull into the drive-way. He let's go of the curtain, hurrying back to Sam to hide his own magazines.

"Pu-put the television on!" Levy says, shoving the pornos in his bag while Sam grabbed and fiddled with the remote. "Come on, hurry up!"

"What do I put it on to?!"

"_Anything_!"

As Sam presses the button and puts on a random channel, Levy threw his and Sam's bags to the side of the couch, the two sitting down quickly and acting as if they had done nothing suspicious and were watching T.V. as Levy's father walked in.

As kyle stepped in, his eyes glanced over to the television set before landing on his son and his friend. A smile lit his lips, pulling off his green ushanka to reveal his curly red hair as he stepped inside the house and closed the door behind. "Hey, Levy. Hey Sam," he says, earning a quick hello from both boys. Kyle looked over to the television, furrowing a puzzled brow as he saw them watching some nature channel. "Are you...watching a nature channel?" He asks quizzically, earning a bod from both boys quickly, too. Instead of questioning them, however, Kyle shrugged it off, smiling as he slugged off his jacket and hung up it up on the coat rack. "Nice to see you here, Sam, but I need Levy to help me clean up the basement for when his uncle comes over. I think you can hang out tomorrow, though!"

"Okay!" Sam says, getting up and grabbing his bag before heading over to the door. He waves to Levy, bidding a quick goodbye before opening the door, and closing it behind him as he left the house.

As a short silence fell on the two Broflovski males, Levy's father smiled as he headed over to the door that led down to the basement, looking at Levy and gesturing with his head to follow him. "Come on, Lev. Got some work to do."

"I'm coming, I'm coming," Levi says, sighing, as he shuts the T.V. set off and following behind his father down the stairs. _At least this'll keep my head off the magazines,_ he thought, turning the light on before closing the door, and escalating down the steps to the lower story. A smile lit his lips as he touched the basement level, looking around the room to see where to start first. _At least tomorrow I might hav ed some luck._

Sam let out a relieved sigh when he was almost a block away from Levy's house, rolling his shoulders as he continued to trudge through the South Park snow. If Levy's dad had saw what the pornos, what could have gone down? Surely, they'd both be grounded, and both would get scowled by their respective parents.

Hell, if they let it out that Derick and kendall were also apart of this? He wasn't sure what Derick's parents would do, but for Kendall, the scowlding he'd probably get would only be from his mom. His father, Kenny - Sam wouldn't actually be that surprised if the male would find out, then buy a few off his son just for the sake of it.

Sam's dad and Levy's dad were close with Kenny, so obviously the three of them and Derick's old man had done their own weird stunts in their childhood. But whenever Sam would ask what his parents did as kids, they'd always go quiet, and before his dad could speak his mother would cut him off and say, almost as if reading from a script, "That's a tale for another day". So he was always left behind on thoughts and ideas of what could have been.

As Sam trudged through the snow, he looked up when he saw his house come into a view, and he moved some of of his black bangs out of his eyes as he began to ascend the steps, fishing out his house key from his pocket and begun to unlock the door.

"I'm home!" He calls into the lit house, closing the door behind him before hearing his father's and his mother's voices call out hellos back from the kitchen. Sam slugged off his back, dropping it to the ground and beside the door. He spared it one last glance, before making his way into the kitchen. _Tomorrow's another day,_ he thinks to himself, as he smiles upon seeing his parents sitting at the round dining table. "Hey mom, hey dad.

"Hey, Sammy," his mother smiles, resting her cup of coffee back on the table from it just previously being at her lips.

His father smiles as well. "Hey, Sam. How was school?"

"It was good."

_And it'll be even better when I get these pornos out._


	3. Chapter 3: Mags For Sell

"Derick, dear! I need you for a minute!"

Derick let out a groan, rolling his eyes irritably as he pushed away from his desk to head downstairs. He had previously been tallying the magazines that were distributed and needed selling, as well as the cost for when the money was brought together. If they got more than twenty-five out by Friday morning, that's an easy $125 brought together at the least! But that'd probably be a bit slow if Sam and Levy took their sweet, _damn_ time -

"Derick!"

"I'm coming, God damnit!" The child screeches, slamming his bedroom door shut behind him before descending down the stairway. As he reaches the last couple of steps, he jumps off the stairway, landing on his feet before heading into the kitchen, finding his mother at the sink doing the dishes. "You need something, mom?" He asks in a much more calm, sweet tone that was completely the opposite of the tone h ed had used just moments prior.

His mother turned away from the sink, smiling as she looked to her son. Heidi's brown hair had grown longer over the years, so it was pulled into a low bun, a few strands of hair straying from the hair tie. She hums in response, drying her hands off with a baby blue wash towel.

"Yes, Derick. I need you to ask your father how long he's going to be until he can lend me a hand with the potatoes."

"Why can't you ask him yourself?" Derick asks, furrowing a brow as he looked up at his mother. She rose a brow at him, leaning most of her weight onto her right leg as she put her hand to her hip. He sighs, raising his hands up in defense. "Alright, alright; I'm goin'," he says, before walking off in the direction of his father's office. As he pressed closer, reaching his father's office, he could hear his father typing away on his keyboard before actually seeing him.

"Hey, dad?" Derick asks, opening the door to reveal his father's office. It was an office room with soft, cream yellow walls, the window frames and door being a light strawberry color with the flooring having a birch colour to the floorboards. In all honesty, the office reminded him of strawberry shortcake, and would always get hungry whenever stepping into his office just by the delicious colours.

Eric looked up from his laptop, raising a brow as he looked over to his son. Eric was still weighty, but not as bad as he had been in his youth, and was somewhat exercising. "Yes, Derick?"

"Mom's wanting ta know if ya almost done," Derick says, his voice catching weirdly on a few words to make them sound a bit slurred. "She needs help with the potatoes."

"Tell her I'll be there ina minute," Eric says, his 'in' and 'a' slurred together as he looks back to his laptop to finish whatever project he was working on. Derick grogan's, shutting the door behind him as he exits, heading back to the kitchen. "'Tell her I'll be there in a minute'," he mocks in a high-pitched voice, rolling his eyes. "God, I'm not some damn Hermes." As Derick approached the openning to the kitchen, he leans his head in, looking up at his mother's back. "He says he'll be here in a minute."

"Alright, thank you!" He hears his mother say, practically hearing the smile she wore as he grumbles in response, turning to head back to his bedroom.

"Kendall! Need you for a sec!" Kenny says in a loud tone, sticking his head through the open doorframe that led into his son's room. His eyebrows furrowed upon seeing the room empty of the boy, scratching his head before walking off to look elsewhere around the house. Kendall, at that moment, had been outside near Stark's Pond, reading through a porno magazine he was going to sell to one of the boys at his school. They both planned to meet up at Stark's Pond around four in the afternoon, so that's where Kendall was now instead of in his bedroom rereading his own magazines.

The blonde let out a hum to himself as he sat on a lone bench, his right leg kicked up on his left as he swung his right foot back and forth while reading. His eyes would squint a little in admiration and a grin would play on his lips ever so often, scanning some more before flipping the page to be greeted by the next savoring surprise.

"Guess there's a few good ones in these new editions," he says to himself, before glancing up at the sound of snow being crunched under footing. He looked in the direction of the sound, seeing a familiar chub walk over towards him. His grin grew, moving half of his body to face Derick as he closed the porno and rested it on his lap. "Got a sale in a few minutes. Need something?" He asks, raising a brow when the male stopped a few feet from the bench, a focused look on his face. There was a silence between them, before Kendall broke it again. "Something on your mind?"

"Just thinking."

"Sex between '_professional' _co-workers is _unprofessional_," Kendall says with a straight face. Derick's face turns a bright red in response, earning a laugh from the blonde as he leans his head back. "Kidding. But seriously, though - what's up?"

"Just not that confident that Jewboy and Stan Junior are going to sell enough magazines in the next few days," the brunette says as he takes a seat next to Kendall on the bench, his hands folded in his lap as he stared across over the large pond.

Kendall raised a brow. "_You_? Not _confident_?" He follows Derick's gaze but sees nothing of interest. "That's a first."

"Oh, shut it," Derick grumbles, his eyes flitting away to glance at Kendall. "Those two are gonna get it if they don't sell what's needed."

"How'd your rope them into this, anyway?" Kendall inquires, turning his head to look over to the male as he pulled his ocean blue parka closer to his body. Being South Park and basically winter all year round, it was definitely cold and left him in shivers. "Blackmail?"

"You bet," Derick laughs, nodding his head as he looks away, staring ahead across Stark's Pond. "Got them lighting some crap on fire on _camera_. You know how their dad's are gonna be if they see it."

"You really are a bit of an ass, Cartman," Kendall replies along with a sigh, resting his cheek into the palm of his hand as he dug dozed off a little. It wasn't until after repeating himself twice with no answer, Derick huffed and turn to the blonde with a glare.

"Ay, you listening to me, McCormick?"

"Not in the slightest," Kendall laughs, earning grumbles from the brunette as he turned away. Aside from Derick's grumbling, it was a relatively quiet afternoon. He furrowed a brow, noticing minutes had gone by without him keeping a look out.

"Weren't you supposed to be having a sale?" Derick says, as if reading Derick's own thought aloud. Kendall shrugs, but nods nonetheless as he whisks his head around slowly, scanning around them for as anyone coming up that weren't discovered. Upon his attempt ending fruitlessly, he looks back to Derick.

"_Supposed_ to. I don't even remember the name of the kid I'm selling this to," Kendall states, resting his cheek in his palm again as he began to kick his feet back and fourth. "Think he ditched?"

"Most likely."

"That's a downer; this edition wasn't that mad, in my opinion," the young McCormick says, earning an eyeroll from Derick. After a few seconds, Kendall gets to his feet, rolling the magazine into a cylinder as he slides it into a secret pocket inside his parka. Derick gives him a confused look.

"Where're you heading?"

"Home."

His brows are cocked more now. "What about the sale?"

"Eh, forget it!" Kendall says, waving the male off as he begins to head away. "If I find him tomorrow, I'll do the exchange then. Besides - _tomorrow's another day_!" And with that, the blonde was off, leaving Derick to sit alone and watch Kendall's retreating back.

When the next morning had arrived, the four friends stood waiting at the bus stop together, and from afar, if you were the first or second generation before the current one, you'd think it'd be their father's with a change. And each son stood where their father would, almost subconsciously. Sam and Levy were talking with each other, Derick grumbling to himself, while Kendall stood silent, cozy in his ocean blue parka. The blonde male's thoughts were currently on finding the boy that missed their business exchange yesterday, and see why he didn't make it.

"So you going to find the guy that stood you up?" Derick says, snapping Kendall out of his thoughts. He turned to the brunette, nodding in clarification before hearing the familiar school bus' engine, before the vehicle of yellow turned behind the cover of trees into their bus stop. The bus stopped in front of them, the door openning to reveal the same old hag that their fathers had as a bus driver when they were younger. It was surprise to see her still alive, even if looking like death could come and sweep her off her feet at any minute.

"Get on! We're running late!" She screeches, the four hurrying aboard. When Derick took an empty seat, Kensall taking the one behind him and Levy and Sam took one of the seats in the back. Before Sam took his seat, the bus had already started again, pulling forward fast and knocking the ravenette down. He let out an agitated hiss, rubbing the back of his head as he glared at the back of the bus driver's head.

"How's she not even dead yet? She's going to kill us soon if she drives and suddenly gets a heart attack!" He grumbles loudly. The bus driver, continuing driving, looks behind her.

"What did you say?!"

"I said 'Levy, use Link's speed attack'!" He yells.

"Oh," the bus driver replies, turning back to have some control of her chaotic driving methods.

"Yeah, I wonder that, too," Levy replies to Sam quietly, not wanting to be the next reference source of bleeding ears from the bus driver's wrath.

"Hey, Kendall," Derick says, turning and looking over the top of his seat to look at the ocean blue parka hood that covered his friend's head. Kendall looked up from the porno he was currently looking at, raising a brow for the brunette to speak. "How come your so into the old porno magazines? Aren't they, like, old and out-dated or something?"

"Nothing beats a classic," the blonde replies, mocking a French accent as he says 'classic'. Derick shrugs, turning back to look for something of random in his bag. Kendall returns to his magazine, humming to himself as he grins to himself, finding a satisfaction at staring at the nude(or almost partially) woman that littered the pages. He could draw a but better than his father, having a more realistic style when it came to his woman he drew. Didn't mean the proportions were bit wack, though.

When the bus had came to a stop at South Park Elementary, the students exit off, Kendall and Derick being one of the first ones off and decided to wait for Sam and Levy. Derick impatiently tapped his foot against the ground with his hands stuck in his pockets, Kendall still reading through his magazine absentmindedly. When the two finally got off the bus, and the bus shut its door and pulled away, they four went off into the school, chatting with one another for what the day would bring. While they didn't bring the topic up(but it was on each of the four's minds), it being Thursday meant a bit of different things for most of them. Derick would be getting up the next morning to pick up cash; Kendall would probably be getting some new ladies to add to his piles; and Sam and Levy were preparing to meet the doom of Kyle and Wendy tomorrow evening because of Derick and their lack of activity on selling magazines. If there was a time of death, surely, it'd be their's soon.

"Oh, found my man," Kendall finally says, earning a confused look from the redhead and ravenette. Instead of explaining, he waves before walking off, heading to the son of Token and Nicole. Knowing the kid's parents, it was a surprise he had gotten an interest in porno magazines. But it was most likely Jake's doing.

Derick shrugs, looking away from Kendall's retreating form over to Levy and Sam. "So, you two ready for tomorrow?"

"If you mean by a life grounding, then pretty much," Levy grumbles, glaring at the male as Derick merely rolls his eyes in response.

"I can move the deadline, you know. I'll just want double the amount sold by next Friday," Derick says, and while Levy merely groans in irritation, Sam stares at Derick happily.

"Really, man?! You mean it?" The ravenette smiles, before nodding his head quickly. "We'll definitely get the double done by then!"

Levy stares at Sam as if he had lost his mind, but Derick only laughs. "Alright then," Derick says, shrugging a little. "I don't like waking up that early, anyway, so I can pick up Kendall's cash at the bustsop tomorrow."

When Derick then walks off towards his locker, Sam and Levy went towards their own. "Dude, I'm surprised he actually did that for us!" Sam says, letting out a sigh of relief. "Man, I thought we were actually going to have our asses handed to us."

"But now we have _double_ to get out of our hands," Levy complains, running a hand through his red hair nervously. Sam glances to him.

"Yeah, but now with Saturday and Sunday, we could probably try and get better chances of selling them." He thinks for a second, before looking back again. "Think we can sell some to Kendall's dad without his mom finding out?"

"Sam!" Levy groans, earning a shrug and slight laugh from his friend.

"I'm joking." He went quiet again. "But seriously, though; think we could?" Another groan in response.

When the school day had finally ended, the four sat on a lone bench while they waited for their bus to come. Kendall had ease selling a few magazines that day, making some deals within classes, then exchange the magazines for cash when recess came around. Derick was Derick, as usual, cursing at people and just being his usual self. And Levy and Sam had managed to pull off selling a few magazines each; four each, in fact. While Kendall and Derick had tried(keyword: "_tried_") stifled laughs when they were told this, nonetheless, the redhead and ravenette were proud of themselves.

Their bus was later than usual, but this didn't stifle their conversation. "Hey, have you heard about Teddy?" Kendall says, breaking them from the conversation on video games they were currently having.

Sam rose a brow. "No, what happened?"

Kendall stifles some laughs as he begins to speak, pulling away his jacket collar. "Apparently, Jake talked him into looking at some of his magazine, claiming it was an 'anatomy chart'."

Derick starts laughing, snickering a little as Sam and Levy shared glances, but can't help the small smiles they wore on their lips. Okay, that was kind of funny, knowing how oblivious and gullible Teddy tended to be. "And-" Kendall stops, trying not to choke as he speaks and laughs at the same time, "He actually _believed_ it! His face was so red when he saw that woman's chest!"

As Kendall and Derick tried to breath again, still laughing, Levy and Sam looked away when seeing their bus come up. They got to their feet, followed after by Derock and Kendall still giggling at the story as they boarded the bus. Instead of mostly separating, like usual, Kendall took a seat closer to the middle of the bus, Derick taking the seat behind him while Sam and Levy sat together in the seat next to Derick's.

"Wait, wait," Levy says, now laughing a little as Kendall and Derick turn to face him. "Did Jake managed to show Luke?"

"Luke actually had an idea of what it was, so he shut Jake's request down fast," Kendall says, chuckling a little. Derick raises a brow, smirking still.

"Great, so he got his anxiety problems from Mr. Tweak, and his _"common sense"_ from Mr. Ticker?" He snickers, rolling his eyes. "Damn, that kid's a _mess_."

There's a silence that settles between the four as more students began to pile on the bus. No one really sat with the four of them, so they didn't have to think about others getting a full ear of their conversation right in the middle of them. To be honest, a lot of people tried to avoid them, mostly for the sake of not being pulled into whatever shenanigans they managed to get themselves into a lot.

Kendall is sitting on his knees, his head over the back of his seat as he rested his chin on his crossed arms. "So, almost Friday," he says, earning nods from his three friends. "Any plans for the weekend?"

"Aside from getting some magazines sold, not really," Sam says, earning a silent nod in agreement from Levy.

"Me, too, but dad wants me to help with cleaning the basement 'cause Uncle Ike is coming over," Levy says, earning a cocked brow from Derick.

"Your Canadian uncle?"

"He's the only uncle from my dad's side, you know this," Levy replies, rolling his eyes a little. Derick grumbles something, although it's forgotten as Sam speaks up to Kendall.

"Hey, Kendall, think I'd be able to sell some magazines to your dad?" He asks, earning a groan from Levy after hearing this from that morning. Kendall grins, raising a brow as he shrugs.

"Dunno; he's definitely more into the old stuff. I think you can though." He laughs a little. "Just don't let my mom find out, or it's not just dad and I's asses getting whooped."

Levy almost chokes on air, staring at Kendall with disbelief. "Hold on - your dad would be okay with that?"

"Hey, I said there's a chance," Kendall laughs. Sam shrugs, Derick turns to start talking with Kendall as Levy begins to thumb through his bag to see how much homework he had that night.


	4. Chapter 4: Bus Trip

"Mom! I'm home!" Derick tells as he enters into his house, followed by Kendall, Levy and Sam behind him, Sam closing the door after themselves. Derick's mother's head poked through the door frame that connected the living room and the kitchen, a smile on her lips seeing the four boys.

"Hello, Derick," she says, nodding her head in greeting to each boy. "And hello, boys. Lovely to see your three."

"We're going up to my room," Derick states, already thumping up the stairs with Kendall in tow. Sam and Levy waved goodbye to Mrs. Cartman before hurrying up the stairs as well. Upon entering the slightly messy bedroom, Levy had the closed the bedroom door behind him before taking a seat on the carpet next to Sam while Kendall and Derick took the bed. There was a silence between the four of them, but it broke as soon as Kendall spoke up.

"So what do we do now?"

"Be specific, Kendall," Derick says, slurring his friend's name in the beginning. Levy and Sam nodded in agreement.

"I mean, what do we do _now_? We've gotten a lot of kids here in town, so what do we do with the rest of the magazines?" Kendall explains, earning nods in agreement from the other three at different times.

"We'll move onto the next town," Derick says simply, earning a weird look from Sam.

"The next town isn't for miles. How are we supposed to get anywhere when we're third graders?" The ravenette says, earning a mocking a laugh from Levy beside him.

"I don't know, _obviously_ by car is the answer! _'Hey, I'm selling pornos right now so my friend won't get my ass beat. Mind giving me a lift to the next town over?'_" Levy mocks, letting out a laugh before screeching an "Ow!" When Sam punched him in the arm.

"Shut up!" Sam says, before looking to Derick.

The brunette is quiet, and Sam knows what this meant, and let's out a groan. "Here we go again.."

"My friends," Derick says, pushing himself from his bed to start making the speech only Sam had knew would come just prior, "My father rode his bike all the way to California to stop a show from airing. And he wasn't much older than us."

He turns from where he had previously been gazing out the window, a look of determination in his eyes as he raises his fist is proclamation. "_Mere miles shan't destroy thee and I_! _And we shall ride our bikes - like steeds!_"

"_Or_ we could take the bus," Levy states simply, although it is only a statement, as this idea had been implemented into each of their minds as soon as they saw the town contraction. Each boy dropped their bike, forgetting them mindfully in a scatter in Derick's yard as they ran after the bus. Derick shouted for his friends to slow down for the first half of the run, but had managed to grab the bus driver's attention to pull over and let them on.

"Afternoon, boys," he said as the door opened, and each boy got on respectively. Levy pulled out change from his pocket and put in the amount for four riders, and took his seat next to Sam, while Kendall sat with Derick. The males sat across from each other, and they were quiet and staring at one another as the bus began to pull away from the stop.

"So, any idea where we'll head off to first?" Sam asks, earning a shrug from Kendall and Levy. Derick cleared his throat, and the three friends raised curious brows as the brunette male pulled out a folded wad of paper from his jacket pocket, and began unfolding it until it was in full view and flat, save for the wrinkles and fold imprints. "What's that?" Sam asks curiously, his eyes wide with interest and curiosity as he leaned forward.

Derick cocked a brow at the male, meeting his eyes before looking down to study the then identified sheet, "A map. I'm routing our path designations so we can get home on time without getting grounded."

"It's practically the weekend, dude!" Levy says, "What are we going to be grounded for?"

"Leaving town without a guardian's consent and notice?" Kendall suggests.

Levy shoots a glance to the blonde. "Shut it, McCormick."

"Aha!" Derick's sound of satisfaction brought the two back, and the three looked over to him in clarification. Derick wore a grin, beginning to fold the map back down before shoving it into his pocket. "Gentleman, we'll be getting off in a few stops!"

"Where _are_ we going to?" Levy asks, cocking a brow. Derick's grin only grew further.

"You'll see."

"Honey, you've got company," Heidi's soft voice cut through the previously quiet air aside from the clicking of the keyboard. Eric looked up from his computer screen, raising a confused brow as the door opened, revealing some of his childhood friends.

"The fuck are you guys doing here?" He asks, though it's clear his tone is in amusement rather than irritation. Kyle and Stan walk in first with Kenny behind them, closing the door behind him.

"Thought they'd be here," Kenny says, shrugging.

"_They'd_?" Eric questions, visibly confused.

Kyle rolls his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest as he leans against the wall behind him. "The kids, dumbass."

Eric shakes his head, rolling his eyes as well in response to the nickname but doesn't reflect on it. "They were, but I believe they left about half an hour ago."

"Where'd they head off to?" Stan asks curiously, raising a brow. Eric shrugs, beginning to type again as Kenny then speaks up.

"Think they're beginning to turn out like us?" The typing stops, and Eric, as well as Kyle and Stan, look over to the blonde, looks on their face of confusion. "You know - getting into trouble, having weird adventures. Like we did."

"They're third graders," Kyle says, though he cracks a smile on his lips as Eric lets out a small laugh. Kenny grins, crossing his arms as well as he leans against the door.

"And we were fourth graders - your point?"

"How much trouble could they get into that we haven't done?"

"Certainly not an anal probe," Kenny says, beginning to burst out laughing as Stan and Kyle followed suit. Eric rolled his eyes, grumbling inaudibly as he continues typing.

"We don't talk about that," he says, and the lightest tint of pink is visible on his cheeks as his fingers tapped with pressure against the keypad. At that the other three laugh more, and Kyle wipes a nonexistent tear from his eye.

"Oh, _yes_; we _do_, actually!"

Eric rolls his eyes again, going back to typing as the three began to talk amongst one another. "But really, though- they can't be any worse than we were as kids," Stan says, smiling as he catches their eyes. "I mean, who witnessed South Park history in the making better than we did?"

"Stan," Eric says, looking up from his screen with a blank expression, "This is a whole new generation we are talking about. That means new gadgets, new trends, new shit -". He shakes his head, mingling, "They're adventures may be a bit different for us to handle."

"If you call a boys' interests an '_adventure_'," Kenny chuckles, earning curious glances.

"What do you mean by that?" Kyle asks, raising a brow. Kenny's grinning, pulling a rolled up magazine from his pants pockets before unfurling it and presenting it to the men. Kyle's face turned a bright red before he turned and looked away, Stan stared a second longer than he may have hoped, and Eric glanced up to see what it was, before losing interest and returning to his work.

"My son here definitely takes after me in some aspects," the blonde say, laughing a little. Kyle looks back, avoiding looking at the open magazine as he looked up at Kenny.

"Your wife know about this?"

"Nelly? 'Course not - Kendall'd be grounded till the ground grew feet." Starting to notice Kyle's discomfort, he chuckles a quick sorry before rolling the magazine up and stuffing it into his pockets again. "Her not knowing is probably best for both of us. And besides - as long as he's not doing anything that'd get him trouble, I have faith he'll keep his interests in check."

"True words from a pervert."

"What can I say? Nelly says I can be poetic sometimes~."

"God, _damn_it, Cartman! We're _lost_!" Levy screechs irritably, his fingers running and yanking at his smoothed-back red curls as he growled in frustration. His mind was a bit disheveled from the lack of familiarity around him, and Levy felt like his control was being taken away from him as the four stared out the bus windows.

Sam pats his back in a comforting reassurance, with Derick looking over the map, as Kendall stared out the window for any familiar signs. Save for those around them, their compartment was relatively quiet.

Levy hissed to himself, looking up to glare at Derick. "Any bright ideas now, _dumbass_?" He snarls, high emphasis on the crude nickname. Derick's eyes are squinted from reading the fine print on the map, and he looks up to return the glare as he lets out a small huff.

"I _know_ where we're _going_," he states, calmly, averting his eyes back down to the map. A few minutes passed, and the bus stops at an empty street with a single lit post light and bench there. Derick, folding the map before stuffing it in his jacket pocket, stands up, turning to head off the bus through the doors near them. Levy and Sam share confused glances as Kendall jumps up and follows him, and the two trail them off the train.

"Hey, Cartman," Levy says, him and the ravenette catching up to Derick and Kendall, "Why'd we get off at this stop?"

"Because it's where we need to be," Derick replies calmly over his shoulder, not sparing the redhead a glance. The four trudged down the barely lit street, the only source being from the lamppost quickly dissolving as they edged deeper into the darkness. As his eyes grew accustomed to the new light setting, looking around Derick could see the silhouettes of townhouses and shops on the street they were on; all dark, showing they were closed. Adjacent to them, Derick looked across the street, was pretty much the same description. Turning back, the brunette came to a stop upon hearing a sound in an alley way they now walked passed. He let out a small "oof" sound and growl upon Kendall bumping into his back, the blonde uttering out a muffled apology from inside his parka. "Watch it, Kendall!" He growls, before snapping his head back in the direction of the alleyway, hearing yet another noise.

"Why'd you stop, dude?" Sam perks up, raising a brow as he and Levy stop before they could walk into Kendall.

"Yeah," Levy adds, "Why'd we stop?"

"I..I heard a sound," Derick confesses, swallowing the dry air that hung in his throat, mentally cursing the hesistant response he had given.

Levy rolls his eyes. "What, are you scared of a street cat, or something?"

"Oi! I am _not_ scared!" Derick snaps, turning around as he shoves Kendall out of the way to stand in front of Levy. Levy stood a little taller, though his scrawny body didn't hold much dominance over Derick's overweight body type. Derick glared with a scowl at the redhead, while Levy blinked a steady stare in response. "I'm just keeping a look out for your cowardly _ass_!"

"I am _not_ cowardly!" Levy shoots back, glaring now as he towers over the brunette with meek power. Derick lets out a snort, rolling his eyes as he turns back. However, instead of continuing down the street, he strolls into the entrance of the alleyway.

"Where the hell are you going?" Sam questions from beside Levy and Kendall.

"Into the alleyway!" Derick proclaims loudly. "Going to shows pussy Levy that I'm _not_ afraid of some. Stupid. _C__at_!"

"I'm not a pussy, either!" Levy shouts at Derick's disappearing form, Levy's right hand cupped to the side of his mouth to make his voice louder. Derick doesn't respond, and for the first thirty seconds, all is quiet. No grumbling, no thrashing of limbs or trashcans. It's almost unsettling, the way the silence rolls about in the darkness none of them could adjust their eyes to. Then -

"_Agh_!" Derick's voice screeches in a high pitch inside the darkness, thrashing around and footsteps beginning to stumble towards them in replacement of the silence. Levy is the first to stumble backwards, a look of terror addressing his face as something is thrown at him in the darkness. It hits him in the face, and he doesn't consider what it was as he let's out a shriek, stumbling and falling backwards as his back collides with the street.

He lets out a groan, raising his head to rub the back of it as whatever had been thrown at his face had toppled onto his stomach. He lets out another shriek, stumbling on his butt backwards with his hands and feets as whatever it was then falls on the ground. Laughter is then heard, and as Levy looks up in the direction he sees Derick, a shit-eating grin on his face with his hands clutching his stomach in laughter, stumbles out of the darkness, his face lit with sickening glee. Sam and Kendall, who had previously been staring at Levy's fallen form, turned around to face the laughing Derick as he stumbled out of the pitch-black alleyway.

"You should've seen your _face_!" Derick snickers with glee, leaning his head down as he continues to laugh. As Levy tries to control his shaky breathing and the constant thumping in his hear, he looks down to examine whatever it was that had scared him. There, on the ground in front of him, was a plush doll, sewn and obviously old-looking. "You - you got _scared_! By a - by a _doll_, Levy!"

"Shut the fuck up, Cartman!" Levy snarls, stumbling to his feet as he grabs the doll. He doesn't bother looking at it again, as he hurls the thing as Derick, hitting him square in the face. Derick's laughter cuts short, letting out a confused hum in response. Levy snickers, clutching his knees as he wears a smirk.

"Fuck you, Levy!" Derick says, hunching down to grab the fallen doll. As Levy shouts a 'fuck you' in response, Derick remains quiet, examining the doll now that he was in better lighting. It was a sewn doll, as he had predicted back in the alleyway after feeling it's soft material and stitched limbs. It was of a girl, with short black hair and two yellow buttons for eyes. The material that was skin was a tan colour, and the doll wore a simple green dress that reached tonwgere the knees should've been. Clutching it in his fist(but not tight enough to possibly break the doll), he looks up at the townhouse they were next to. He's quiet for a moment, Levy still groaning about whatever else was going on now, before Derick shoves his free hand into his jacket pocket to feel around for something. Something he had broughten along the way just incase of a situation like this. His hand froze after feeling a hard, cylinder like object, and he smiles a little as he pulls it out. It's a flashlight.

"Huh?" Sam is pulled back to Derick's presence, looking over to the brunette as he turns around to head into the darkness. "Hey, Derick; where are you going?"

Derick doesn't bother responding, turning on the flashlight. He blinks a few times at the light hitting his face, directing the light in the direction of the alleyway and observing the dead end. It was empty, save for a few trashcans that littered the area, including the closed one where Derick had found the doll.

Levy, remaining with Sam and Kendall, squinted his eyes in disbelief. "He had a flashlight this whole time? Why didn't he tell us?" He asks, with the ravenette and blonde shrugging in response.

Aiming his flashlight above the trash can, Derick sees a closed window, dark, but the curtains drawn to make the room visible to whoever looked in. He walked over setting the flashlight on the lid of the trashcans, before knocking on the window. It's quiet for a second, before the light from inside turns on and a little looks out through the window. Derick saw the strong resemblance the girl had of the doll, and he noticed how she looked like she was a first or second grader; at most a year or two younger than him.

The girl opens the window, and leans her head out of the window frame as she and Derick meet eyes. "Can I help you?" She asks nervously, her eyebrows twitched together as she awaits Derick's response.

He coughs, before raising the doll towards the girl so she could reach it. "This was out here. Yours?"

The girl's eyes seemed to light up when seeing the doll, and snatches it quickly from the brunette male. She hugs it to her chest, smiling, and it's hard for Derick to not smile as well. She looks back to him, smiling still. "Thank you, mister!"

Derick nods, and he turns away as the girl closes the window and turns the light off, before Derick turns his flashlight off as well. He steps out of the alleyway after a few steps, seeing his three friends again as they spoke with worried looks. Levy is the first to notice his returned presence, and his worry only etches further. Just a smidge. "Dude, where the hell _were_ you?"

Derick replaced the smile with a frown, not wanting to be questioned of it. He rolls his eyes, stepping closer to the trio so they stood in an almost huddled group. "None of yer business," he states gruffly, but grins now, pulling away from the trio as he begins to walk off in the direction they were headed earlier, waving over his shoulder. "Now, shall we do some business? I got in contact with some clients before we left; we're meeting at the park."

The trio exchanged weary glances, before following behind him.


	5. Chapter 5: Late Night Deliveries

As the boys walked further from the alleyway, in the presumed "direction" of the town's park, the lighting got a bit better. Lamp posts after a few minutes began to go from dark, to barely lit, to a fair brightness, making their way a little better.

"Jeez," Sam grumbles, looking around as he kept close to Levy. "Even with the lamp posts, this place is almost like a freaking ghost town."

"Yeah, no kidding," Kendall replies, his voice muffled from his jacket. The other two remained quiet, but it was easy to tell that Levy agreed by the expression he wore on his face. Derick's was unreadable though- bore a straight-face - making it harder to deem his agreeable or not.

"How long do you think this might take?" Levy groans, his eyes staring at the back of Derick's brunette head. Derick doesn't reply, leaving the redhead in an even worse irritable mood, grumbling to himself as he began to look around as well.

When minutes passed, the lights that used to be clustered now became spread out, meaning the lamp posts were in unevenly positioned areas. Levy noticed this, but it took a lot in him not to grumble about that too. He looked to his dark shoes, almost matching the colour of the hard cement below.

"It should be a few minutes now," Derick finally says, and Levy looked up to see them at an entrance to a small park. It was mostly littered with trees and the common snow, with a fairly sized playground that took over a few yards from the entrance. The playground was comprised of a large twisting slide, a teetertater, a swing set, monkey bars, and sand pit, with three shadowed figures taking the seats of the swingset, while a lone shadow was perched on the bottom of the slide. A single lamp post resided to the side of the playground, but the figure's identitis were hard to see from a distance, even if it could've been light out.

"_This_ is it?" Sam inquires, raising a brow.

Derick nods. "These are our men." The brunette walks over, his footsteps from the grass then to the crunching sound of bark chips, gaining the figures' attention. Each of them looked in his direction, faces unclear and unreadable even from the distance closed because of Derick.

After a few seconds of hesitation, Levy, Sam, and Kendall stepped forward to join him, reaching him quickly. When they had passed where the light post was and were in a near proximity of the swing set, Kendall was the first to register the faces.

The three on the swing set were male, while the one on the slide he couldn't figure out.

"You the ones we're meeting?" Derick questions, eyes set on the closest figure. They nodded their head to his question. Derick nods as well, though more in self-reassurance.

"We've got a small collection," Derick starts, strolling closer before leaning against one of the poles of the swing set. "Got the cash?"

All three nod, turning and producing an uncertain amount of bills from their pockets. A slight smirk curves onto Derick's lips, nodding to himself a little before turning to Kendall. "Kendall, got the mags?"

"Yes, sir," the blonde says jokingly with a grin, stepping towards them and openning his jacket to reveal around five to six different magazines hiding in a large secret pocket. "Brought a variety for different interests."

One of them got up, nearing Kendall before the blonde stuck his arm out in defense, mocking an "Ah-ah!" He got a look of the surely now-registered male, seeing dark brown locks with matching dark eyes and porcelain coloured skin. The boy was shorter than Kendall, and wore a green sweater with large sleeves and ripped jeans. He liked his style, though Kendall couldn't quite understand the fashion choice as it was rather cold for ripped jeans in this cold season.

Levy and Sam watched from behind, exchanging glances with each other as their friends began the exchange of cash and magazines. "How do you think he got the video?" Sam finally asks in a hushed tone, before getting elbowed in the side by the redhead. The ravenette let out a short hiss of pain, glaring at his friend while rubbing the spot on his arm. "The hell was that for?"

"Don't discuss it here," Levy whispers, glancing at him with sharp eyes before looking back at the brunette and blonde. They seemed to have finished the exchange as Derick was stringing through dollar bills with a satisfied look and the three males holding magazines. One of the two left boys had hazel eyes and ginger hair that fell around his face, wearing a gray jacket and jeans, while the other had cropped dirty blonde hair and dark blue eyes, wearing a flannel underneath a sweater with dark pants, and was the tallest of the trio. Levy's eyes narrowed slightly, noticing the flaw of the setting.

"Where's the third one?" He asks, getting the five's attention. They gave him weird looks, as he added, "Your friend, the one on the slide."

The dirty blonde with blue eyes seemed to have been dawned with something of a memory click, his eyes slightly widening before turning his gaze in the direction of the slide. Levy and the others looked that way as well, and the slide was still inhabited by the unaddressed figure. The boy looked back, a slight smile springing to his lips.

"Ah, that's one of our friends," he says, who earns an interested look from Dereck.

"'Friend', you say?" Derick says, grinning. "Would he perhaps be interested in buying?"

"_She_," the boy corrects, earning a slight embarrassed look from Derick, before chuckling a little. "And no, she isn't interested in this kind of stuff. She came more to make sure nothing 'dirty' went on."

"I can make things 'dirty' if she's interested," Kendall says, wiggling his eyebrows in the direction of the 'female' shadow. The boys laughed at that, but shook their heads.

"She's more likely to kick you in the balls than do that," the boy with the large sleeves said, grinning as he held his magazine close to his chest. Levy looked from the five to the shadow again, seeing 'her' not to have moved an inch. His eyes narrowed slightly at her, but he couldn't tell if what her reaction was. Or if she had one at all.

"So how many magazines do you have right now?" Sam asked Derick when the four managed to catch a bus that was heading back to their hometown. The ravenette watched as Derick thumbed through the remaining magazines that Kendall had given him. The brunette boy furrowed his eyes at the issues, but looked up to Sam.

"We have about four magazines on hand at the moment," Derick states, before his eyes glanced up as if his was counting invisible numbers. "And we have about thirty-something in stock at my house, so we still have a bit to go before I let you guys off the hook."

"'The _hook_'?" Levy asks, his face showing confusion. He was sat next to Sam, as Kendall sat next to Derick. The same seating arrangement as before. "Dude, you _blackmailed_ us in into this crap. You're acting like we're some kind of mafia, and us two signed some kind of 'contract' that pledged our souls to this or something!"

"First of all," Derick replies, his right index finger up to count off a list, "you were being redundant, using 'some kind of' numerous times."

"Now is _not_ the time for a grammar lesson, Cartman," Levy growls, but Derick ignores him as he continues.

"And second, this _is_ blackmail," Derick says calmly, grinning slightly as he stretches his arms out for emphasis. "You guys did something stupid, I got proof of it, and now you two are my little puppets until I feel like disposing you!"

"You're a real asshole, Cartman," Levy snaps at him, to which the brunette cackles.

"I know I am!"

"Then why the hell is Kendall here?" Sam asks curiously, jerking a thumb in the blonde's direction. Derick clams his laughter, his smile gone and replaced with a subtle frown. He shrugs, glancing to the blonde who was preoccupied with one Oh f his own retro magazines.

"He came for the exchange of pornos."

"Ah."

The four went quiet, their thoughts keeping them preoccupied as the bus ride went on. Levy would occasionally glance over to Derick, eyes narrowed on him before looking away. Derick had stuffed his hands in his hoodie pockets, and looked as if he was beginning to doze off to sleep. Kendall was caught up with his magazine, most of the lower half of his face covered by the large collar of his ocean blue parka. Sam's attention was directed towards the window, the scenery outside dark and the lights from the bus making it so he could see his reflection the most. A half hour passed when they reached South Park, tired and dozing off(save for Kendall), but got off with heavy steps around the same place they had gotten on.

"Think your mom's going to be pissed, Derick?" Levy asks as they reached his yard, him, Sam, and Kendall picking up their own bikes to head off home.

Derick let out a snort, glancing to the redhead. "If she's awake. I'll see you guys later."

Levy and Sam waved goodbye, riding off to their homes and leaving Kendall behind with his bike, standing in Derick's front yard as the brunette male began to head over to his front door. There, Kendall spoke up, his voice catching Derick's attention to make him look over, hand already on the doorknob.

"You were lying back there, weren't you?"

Derick could see from the distance that even though Kendall's parka collar covered up to his nose, he swore he could see a smile on the blonde's lips. Derick and Kendall met eyes, a mute conversation between them with only their eyes. Everything was quiet, save for the familiar sounds that went on in the mountain town. Even if it was quiet between them, even if part of it was the truth, Derick's eyes gave his answer. And Kendall smiled more at it, turning and mounting his bike as he got on.

"I'll see you later, Cartman," the blonde says over his shoulder, riding off in the opposite direction that Sam and Levy had gone in. Derick's eyes remained on his back before he vanished into the darkness, leaving him all alone. He looked away, eyes on the door as he slowly turned the knob.

"See you," he mumbled quietly to no in particular, letting himself in and closing the door behind him. The house was silent, no lights on except for the one in the kitchen. He could tell because he could see the kitchen from the hallway that led to the front door. He tiptoed quietly to the archway that led into the kitchen, looking in to see his mother at the table. She was sitting with her hands covering her face, shoulders rising and sinking in sync with her back in slow movements. Not like she was crying; more so as if she was asleep. And knowing his mother wasn't the heaviest sleeper, Derick crept away and towards the stairway, careful to evade the creaky steps as he went up.

Reaching the top of the stairway, Derick froze when hearing loud typing coming from the room closest to him. Derick glanced in its direction, his brows furrowed in a confused manner. _He's still working? _He pondered, before heading to his bedroom opposite his father's office. The door was open a crack and dark inside, and after closing the door behind him he flicked the light switch on. His bedroom was illuminated, showing the things he had there. His bed that bore a red bedspread with a skull print on it and white pillows stood in the far corner, with his desk right beside it that homed his laptop, various school books and action figures. A bookcase that stood at the end of his bed that homed various things other than books. Various other things stood, but they were neglected as Derick trudged to his closet, pulling out night clothes and getting dressed into them. He flipped the lights off, heading to his bed and tucking himself in. He hadn't noticed the sudden stop of the clicking keyboard, nor the familiar buzz of the South Park night.

Kendall stared up at the ceiling of his bedroom, arms crossed beneath his head as he pondered quietly. Not about anything in particular; just random things. His thoughts dwelled on the events that had just taken place, and his blue eyes searched and trailed the cracks in his ceiling from paint chipping. His bedroom was quiet, but he could hear his parents talking downstairs. The walls and floors were thin enough to hear through, and he'd often stop what he was doing just to listen in on them. Most were of unimportant stuff that hed quickly tune out, but some would catch his ears. Tonight's was no different.

He had came in while his mother was wondering pit loud where he's been all day and half the night, while his father would just reassure her that he was probably out doing guy stuff with friends. Stuff that he as a child did, most likely. _So you guys selled stuff like magazines? _He wondered now, remembering as he hadn't been heard and been able to sneak up the stairs to his bedroom fast.

Now that he thought about it, Kendall didn't know all that much about his father than he thought he did. Sure, his father told him stories from his and his mother's childhoods, but other than that, he didn't know much else. Hell, once he tried looking for a photo album and hadn't been able to find a single one. _Why'd I want to in the first place? _He wondered, though he couldn't remember the reason. The blonde turned on his side, his eyes focused on his closed door as the conversation seemed to cease. When nothing else was heard, Kendall returned to laying on his back, his eyes closing as he began to doze off. Earlier he had changed into sleep wear, which consisted mostly of sweats and a different tee-shirt, so if his parents decided to come and "check up" on him, he could easily turn off his lamp light and pretend like he's been asleep.

"Maybe I should ask him," Kendall finally whispered to himself, the thought of his father's childhood beginning to gnaw at him in curiosity. With this single-minded agreement, he nodded to himself, turning slightly and turning off his light, before turning completely to face the wall. But as much as he would doze off, Kendall knew it'd take almost half an hour till he'd actually be asleep. That was the misfortune he was dealt with since birth: his mind would jump from various topics, making it difficult to fall asleep with an eased mind. Kendall mindlessly dragged his forefinger against the wall, his finger trailing against the chipped paint of the wall that could be described as blemishes to an otherwise clear room.

Then his mind went back to when he stood in Derick's lawn, and the silent answer Derick's eyes gave him to the question Kendall had asked. And he smiled slightly at that, because he smiled then as well when receiving it. _You really can be a true ass, Derick,_ he thought with a grin, his eyes sliding close as he bore his face closer into his pillow. _But I can see through those walls you like to put up for a show; all four of us can._

"Care to explain yourself, young man?"

Levy looked down as his blonde mother began to lecture him about staying out so late, and coming back without a care for his safety. The same crap and lecture he got like usual when this happened.

"Bebe, let me handle it." Levy looked up when hearing his father, seeing as he smiled to Levy's mother with a hand on her shoulder, before she nodded and left to tend to something in the laundry room. That left him and his father standing in the hallway that led to the front door, Sam standing in the partially closed doorway. Levy felt his father's green eyes on him, and Levy had gone back to looking at the ground before his father spoke up. "Sam, go home now. Stan and Wendy are most likely worried." Sam nodded quietly, whispering a quick goodbye to his friend before leaving, closing the door behind him. Levy looked back up at his father, meeting his eyes and seeing a soft smile on the older male's lips. "Derick and Kendall too?"

Levy nodded in clarification, smiling sheepishly before feeling his father ruffle his hair, messing with the slicked back hair into the more curled fashion he was originally born with. He let out a whine, swatting his father's hand away and gaining a small laugh from him as well. He patted his head, saying, "Go on and get ready for bed. We'll see you in the morning."

With a quick nod, Levy hurried up the stairs, heading into his room and getting himself ready for bed. Before he tucked himself in, he used the landline in his room to call and check up on Sam, seeing how his luck went. A few rings were heard when the usual 'not able to answer the phone' message came on the other line, and Levy scowled as he hung up. Chances were, with a mother like Sam's, he'd probably be grounded for the next month and a half. If he was still alive by the time Levy saw him next, that is. With a heavy sigh, he turned away from his desk, heading to his bed with the weight of the recent events light on his shoulders.


	6. Chapter 6: Limbo

"You didn't answer the phone last night, Sam," Levy says the next morning, joining the ravenette at the bus stop. Kendall and Derick are no where to be seen, so presumably they were running a little late.

Sam let out a groan, running a hand through his ravenette locks. "When I got home last night, my parents were _pissed_. My mom especially."

Levy groaned and placed his hand on his forehead knowing Sam's parents were kind of strict with staying out late. "At least you're alive!" He added in a halfhearted tone, rolling his eyes. "I'll let you know that if they found out what they did, I don't think any of us would be here right now!" Sam exclaimed. Levy thought to himself, his friend had a point. "Where are Derick and Kendall anyway?"

Just at that moment, both of them appeared from a distance and were walking up to them, "Hey!" Derick gave them a small wave whilst Kendall smiled at Sam and Levy at the bus stop. "It's about time you got here- we would've missed the bus!" the black-haired boy shouted. "Well if we look at that!" Levy said, taking a few steps to the bus that was meters away from them. The other two boys started to run, waving their arms frantically in the air and Sam chuckled as his friend rolled his eyes. Seconds later, Derick and Kendall got on, trying to recover and regain their breath. "And this is why we are on time to places" Levy remarked. In return, the blonde boy rolled his eyes and the other ignored, taking a seat behind Sam and Levy, waiting for the other boy to join him. "Got the magazines?" Levy whispered. Kendall smacked the backpack as a signal that they had them. "Good." They were heading to school but after that, they would be going to sell them.

The four of them were sat in their usual seats for class as the teacher rambled on about something boring, so Derick began writing notes on a piece of paper. "_When will this class end already_?" Sam looked over to see what he could've been writing but his eyes couldn't read the small writing. The rest of the day went by with them passing notes to each other stealthily until the very last lesson.

"Passing notes in class are we?" a teacher was standing behind Levy as he tried to cover it up and pretend to do his school work. "No! Of course not!" he said shaking his head. The older person sneered, "Give me the paper!" Levy hesitated and watched his friends give him fretful looks. "NOW!" The boy handed over a small piece of paper with nothing written on it. He was extremely lucky to have spotted it. The teacher sighed, "I've got my eyes on you Levy..." and walked to her desk. The boy mouthed, "That was a close one" before alternating between actually studying and passing notes to his friends again.

After school, the four of them walked out of the school gates and Derick was quick to scold him. "What if we got caught Levy? Do you _know_ how risky that was? Well. You're lucky Miss didn't find the notes..."

The four boys continued walking in an awkward silence. Trying to lighten up the mood, Kendall randomly asked, "So where are we gonna sell them today?" Everyone but Derick hummed and mumbled in agreement. The other boy thought about it for a couple of seconds. "We can't go to the next town- it's too far- and we can't go to the town before ours..." he paused, taking some time to think about it as he walked but before he could say anything, Sam quickly interjected, "So are we gonna go some weird place between the two?" He smiled at himself for saying something that was quite smart and waited for an answer. "I'll admit, I wasn't thinking that but it sounds like a pretty good idea."

All of a sudden, Levy and Kendall chanted, "We're going to Limbo!" and the group burst out laughing. "But it better be quick- I'm grounded for a month remember!" Sam cried. Reassuringly, Derick told him that they'd be home in time but Sam was still anxious and asking a lot of questions. "SHUT THE HELL UP!" Derick finally snapped, getting tired of Sam's incessant questions. "We're almost there anyway..." The boys kept walking until Kendall stopped. "I think this is the spot! We'll sell them here!" he said with a grin on his face. Levy, clearly tired and confused looked at him, "BUT THERE IS LITERALLY NOBODY HERE!" To their surprise, a random man walked up to them, "Are you guys _lost_ or something?" The stranger scratched the back of his neck before swiftly bringing his hand through his dark brown hair and putting it down again. Kendall was about to open his mouth but Derick beat him to it. "We aren't lost..." he stated, looking to see if there was anyone around, "But we wanna make a deal with you."

The four young boys nodded at the tall man in front of them, who gave them a puzzled look. "What do you want to sell because I have no-" he was interrupted by Levy, "I can see your wallet you know!" The child rolled his eyes once the man grumbled in defeat. "Okay, okay! But what do you want?" Kendall took the backpack and revealed one of the many magazines sitting in there. "You want _this_?" he said with a smirk on his face. Their future customer wore a dumbfounded expression. "How did you get your hands on those?" He looked around before continuing in a low voice, "How much?" Levy, Sam and Kendall turned around to decide as Derick told the person to excuse them for a minute. "Should we ask for 100 bucks? "Levy whispered. The three other boys mumbled, disagreeing with his idea. "How about he tells us a place where we could sell more of these? _Or..._" Kendall stopped, not having any other ideas in mind.

"Or what?" Sam spat. "I don't know!" The four of them tried to think of something but in the end they could only think of selling the copy for 15 dollars. "Here." Derick said bluntly waiting for the money to reach his hand. The man rummaged through his wallet and handed a lot more than what seemed to be $15 but none of them were complaining. "Nice doing business with ya!" After that long conversation, the boys started moving and talking but Kendall noticed that Sam wasn't with them anymore. Sam went in the opposite direction. "Hey, Sam! Where are you going?" Kendall asked, running up to his friend. "Home. I'm already grounded and if I'm being honest, I wanna be alive tomorrow!" Slightly shaking his head, the dark-haired boy kept walking to his house, getting further and further away from the other three.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps follow him and Sam began to walk faster. "Wait up!" Kendall yelled, "Yeah, it's just us!" He stopped walking, "I thought you were still exploring Limbo," rolling his eyes as he said it. "We were-" Derick began but Levy hastily interrupted him, "We chose to go back. This place was kind of giving me the creeps anyway". The boy shuddered and walked towards the black-haired boy. Kendall followed and Derick scowled before joining them and walking towards their town. Derick and Sam didn't talk to each other the entire way back and everyone walked in an uncomfortable silence. All that could be heard from them were mutters, "What time is it?" or "How much longer do we have to walk for?" Derick was also grumbling to himself but it was so quiet that none of the other boys could decipher what he was saying. But, he was certainly pissed off with Sam.

Eventually, they reached town and the sun was starting to set. "Guess we made it in time," Sam sighed in relief. "But I've got to go home now. So see you tomorrow?" Everyone except Derick said goodbye but Sam didn't really care at this point. He waved and headed to his house, knowing his mom was going to be slightly annoyed at him. Meanwhile, Levy, Kendall and Derick were talking among themselves about the next stages for their plan and their return to Limbo. "How about we go back tomorrow?" Levy whispered. "Yeah!" Kendall agreed and Derick just hummed. Just as Kendall was about to talk about their plan, Sam's mom came out and stood at the door. "Whar are you doing outside boys? Come in, come in!" She gestured them to come in with a nod and wave and the three of them walked in. "Want anything to eat or drink?" They were all hungry and a snack sounded great. It was also great because that meant Kendall could finish talking about the plan. "Mission Limbo is on!" he said as soon as Sam's mom left the room. "Huh?" Sam looked confused and the other two boys just groaned. "So, I guess that's what we're calling it," Derick mumbled. Levy rubbed his hands together, "Tomorrow after school? Back to that place?" Everyone nodded.

"Are we still meeting up with that guy?" he asked. Sam shivered, recalling their meeting and his first impression- which to him wasn't exactly great, kind of creepy to be honest. "I-I don't trust that guy..." he began. "What guy don't you trust sweetie?" Sam's mom walked back in holding snacks for the children. "Some kid at school!" he replied hastily, thinking how lucky he was to have quickly thought of something. "He seemed a bit... _off_. But it's probably just a bad first impression." The woman just shrugged, "Okay," and left the room again. "As you were saying..." Derick uttered. "As I was _saying_, he's not trustworthy. Did you _see _the way he reacted and handed us more than we asked for!" Levy argued by saying it's a good they got more money than they had originally anticipated. "But yeah, he does seem kind of dodgy. And he _did _come out of nowhere!" Kendall agreed. Everyone looked at Derick- he was awfully quiet and everyone could sense his anger. The tension was in the air. "Well," he spat. "We are going ahead with 'Mission Limbo' anyway. He is our _chance _of making more money.

But if it weren't for _someone _here, I'm sure we would've got more money to share and an emptier backpack." Derick glared at Sam, who glared back for a second and sighed before beginning to fidget with his fingers. "Well, I'm not coming then!" the other boy retorted bitterly before getting up and storming off to his room. Kendall looked at Levy who also felt the tension in the room. "Let's not waste our time on him. Let's go." Derick got up and headed for the door. "Thanks Sam's mom for the snacks, but I need to make my way home now!" he smiled for a second and waved but both of the boys knew that the grin was gone as soon as he turned to open the door. "Let's follow him," Levy said in a low voice. Kendall nodded and they, too, thanked their friend's mom before walking out and running after Derick. "Derick! Hey!" the boys called out for him. They were ignored and their friend kept walking away. Kendall started running towards him, "What is _up _with you? Can you quit moping around and say something!" Derick growled and continued walking to his house. "Hey!" Kendall called. "Just leave him alone," Levy told him, "There's no point." The two of them walked in silence until they had to split up and go their separate ways.

When Levy got home, he was greeted by his parents hugging him. "Where were you? This is not the first but the _second _time this has happened, where _were _you Levy?" his mother suddenly started questioning him. "Honey, calm down. He was probably with the boys again. But Levy, you need to watch the time! It's dangerous at night you know." his father stated. "I was at Sam's house and we lost track of time," the boy answered, obviously not telling them his adventures outside of town, "And I walked home with Kendall!" He watched his mother sigh in relief as she hugged her child. "At least you are safe and sound..." His dad joined the hug, "She's right you know. We were worried sick!" Levy smiled. The smell of food wafted across the room, making him hungry. "What's for dinner, mom?" She grinned at her child, "Spaghetti bolognese." The boy licked his lips and ran to take off his shoes and wash his hands. _'I wonder what the others are up to'_ he thought to himself.

Kendall walked into his house, going unnoticed by his parents who were in the middle of a conversation. "Hey Mom and Dad!" In return, they only said hello and asked how he was before continuing their conversation. _'Oh well. At least they didn't interrogate me.' _he thought to himself. He ran into his room and closed the door. "If Derick is just gonna frown all day, I might as well plan 'Mission Limbo' myself!" He rummaged for a piece of paper and began to write. But the real question on his mind was if he could really trust the guy he met today. "I mean he did give us more than we asked for, _and _he did say he could get more people to buy the mags..." he mumbled to himself, doodling something random on the paper. "But his reactions were kinda strange, to say the least. Why was he looking over his shoulder every five minutes?" The boy continued drawing, trying to get rid of the negative thoughts and doubts in his mind but it was difficult. The boy sketched and shaded in the image, completing it in around 20 minutes. "Well, what do we have here..." he muttered to himself.

"Why did I _draw _him?" He stared at the image of the man he met today. "I guess I'll need this for when we go back to Limbo tomorrow." He also made a mental note _not _to walk there tomorrow. "Okay, how was I able to draw the stranger and start thinking about him and whether he can be trusted rather than be making a plan for 'Mission Limbo'? I'm so easily distracted..." He shook his head before beginning to make useful notes on the other side of the paper. "So we'll go to school, go home and get our bikes and say we're going to the park to cycle. Then, we'll speedily make our way to Limbo and meet that man again. I've got the picture so we should be able to recognise him, when he comes. By the end, we should be home earlier and have more money in our pockets!" he mumbled writing what he was saying in note form.

Sam sat on his bed, boiling with anger, as his friends left his house. "I'm not coming tomorrow..." He thought about that man he and his friends met, "We can't trust him... something seems off about him- but I can't put my finger on it!" he grumbled in annoyance. The phone started ringing and he walked over to answer it. "Hello?" he greeted the other person weakly. "Sam! I've got a plan!" Kendall told him. He rolled his eyes, "I told you, I'm _not _coming! Something isn't right about him!" Before Kendall could argue with him, Sam kept talking, but in a quiet voice, "I'm not coming whether you like it or not.

And I certainly don't want to talk to your other friend right now." Kendall stayed silent for a few seconds, "You do realise he's not talking to _anyone_, right? So you better come and fix up between the two of you!" he hissed. The black haired boy huffed, "Fine!". "Good!" Kendall replied, "So here's the plan!" The boy on the line hummed. "So, we go to school and study- the normal stuff. Get the bus home, get our bikes and head straight to Limbo!" Sam remained silent. "What are we gonna tell our parents? We can't just leave- you _know _they'll ask where we're going!" To Sam's subrprise, his friend laughed on the phone.

"I already thought of that! We're gonna tell them that we're going to the park and hanging out there." Not waiting for an answer, Kendall continued talking, "As I was saying, after we get our bikes, we go to Limbo with more time to spend there. Find the man, get some more customers and fill our pockets, then quickly get back home without anyone suspecting anything!" The boy smiled at himself, proud of his well-devised plan. "So what do you think? Do you think it'll work?" Sam took a deep breath before speaking, "Kendall, I think it's a good idea but-" "What do you mean but?" The other boy interrupted. "I spent a lot of time trying to think of something!" he cried. "You didn't let me finish!" Sam yell-whispered.

"How are we gonna _find_ that man in the first place? We might not be able to remember what he looks like to every small detail- so we might get the wrong person! What if he has a twin or something?" Sam began to think of many reasons why it would be hard to find the stranger. "Don't worry about it! Before planning this scheme, I drew him. I wasn't planning to make a sketch of that man but it is quite useful." Sam sat there surprised, "How could you still remember what he looked like? We're lucky you're pretty good at art!" Kendall scoffed, "Pretty good? I'm a better artist than you last time I checked!" he laughed. "I'll tell Derick and Levy tomorrow. But I better be going now!" Both boys said their goodbyes and ended the call.

_'Let's hope Derick is in a better mood' _Sam thought to himself.


	7. Chapter 7: The Mission

Kendall, Sam, Derick and Levy were sitting down on the bus to school , the day after the argument between the four. Derick was sitting nearby but not next to any of them as the three mumbled amongst themselves. "So, what's the plan?" the red-haired boy asked. Kendall explained the plan- exactly how he had explained to Sam the night before, then, showed Levy the picture that he'd drawn. "Wow, that really looks like him! I never knew you were such an artist Kendall!" The boy smirked, "We learn something new everyday..." He looked at Sam and the smug expression was wiped off his face as he realised his friend was looking at Derick. Derick was seated a couple seats away, earphones in his ears and looking out of the window with a frown on his face that could barely be seen. "You two need to sort this out, you know that right?" Sam nodded in response to Kendall, "But we're on a _bus_! I'm not gonna do it now! Wait until we get to school- I'll talk to him _then_." he replied, failing to whisper. "It'll take a lot to convince Derick to comeback and work with us though," Levy warned and the other two boys agreed. Kendall tried to make two of his friends have a more positive outlook, "But, we'll manage. We _all _know he really wants to do this. And he _certainly _can't ignore us forever!" Sam nodded and Levy hummed in agreement.

Once they arrived at the school gates, they followed Derick into the building, walking closely behind him but drew no attention to themselves. Kendall started to push and shove his black-haired friend, "You need to go and talk to him, Sam. Just apologise already!" he whispered sharply. He received an eye roll but that didn't stop him from forcefully pushing Sam to him and making Derick turn around in pain and confusion. "Sorry, I was pushed," he apologised scratching the back of his neck. Derick huffed before turning around and walking to class. "Wait!" Sam yelled and grabbed his shoulder. "What do you _want_?" the other boy spat, his voice laced with annoyance and anger. Derick did _not _want to see any of the three boys right now. "It's about 'Mission Limbo'" he whispered, "Kendall's got a plan which we all think will work. We just need you to be a part of it." The boy looked at Sam, "Okay then..." he replied, raising an eyebrow. "You've got to _convince _me to be a part of 'Mission Limbo'. Don't think I'll make it so easy for you to get me back on board with this." He walked away, not letting his friend say anything else and smiled to himself as he made his way to his lesson.

Kendall and Levy, on the other hand, were not so impressed and began to scold Sam once he came back to them. "So, um, guys..." Sam started. The two boys looked at each other before looking at Sam- already knowing what he was going to say. "We have some convincing to do!" Kendall added, "We don't have much time to do it!" "If we don't convince him by the end of the school day, 'Mission Limbo' is not gonna happen. And you know what that means- waste of time, grounded for nothing, and empty pockets! There's no way I'm gonna let that happen so we're gonna convince him. But we need a plan..." Levy said.

In class, they began passing notes, secretly trying to devise a scheme to get Derick back into 'Mission Limbo' in a couple hours. Kendall started it off, "_We've got to tell him to meet us at lunch, I'll explain my brilliant idea and show him the picture of the guy._" He quickly folded the paper under his desk and passed it onto Levy to read as the teacher was writing something on the board. The red-haired boy opened the paper and read it. He sighed and started to write something underneath his friend's note when the teacher had turned away. "_Where are we gonna meet him though? Also, we're going to have to hunt him down if we want to share our plans with him._" Levy passed the paper back to Kendall and tapped his foot repeatedly.

Sam, who was still waiting for the note to reach him, kept looking back every minute to see what was going on, but he didn't want to look suspicious. Unluckily for him, he caught Derick's attention. Once they had eye contact, the boy with black hair gulped in terror and turned away, leaving the other boy bewildered and wondering what was wrong with him. Behind Sam, Kendall was receiving the piece of paper again and reading it. He tapped Levy's foot before nodding and giving him a thumbs up, indicating he had a plan in mind. The boy then lightly kicked the back of Sam's foot, and gave him the note.

As Sam read the unfolded piece of paper, Derick, who was sitting a desk diagonal from him, tried to look over the boy's shoulder to see what the note was saying but he was unsuccessful. "Why is the writing so small?" he muttered under his breath. After Sam had finished reading the note, he wrote many question marks below Levy's questions. He took care when refolding the paper but he was also quick. The paper had been circulating around that small area of the classroom for nearly an hour and they _still _hadn't been caught by the teacher. Maybe it _was _their lucky day! Kendall grabbed the paper, a little too harshly, and rolled his eyes once he had seen the large number of question marks on the creased paper. "I guess he didn't get the signal," he mumbled to himself. "_We're going to chase after him dummy! After class, we're gonna talk to him and make sure he doesn't leave. That way, we can tell him the plan. If he still won't join, I've got a few tricks up my sleeve..._" Once he'd finished writing that, the bell rang- guess he couldn't really explain the plan to the other two boys but they would just have to follow along as if they knew.

"Derick!" Kendall lightly jogged to his friend. "Trying to convince me to join your mission are you?" He showed very little interest in what Kendall was saying. "Well, it's your loss with those empty pockets..." the other boy whispered, before walking away and smiling. In a split second, Derick grabbed his wrist. "If it weren't for me, you would be bored and broke," he growled. "So, what is this plan you have?" Kendall began to explain the plan to him- Derick listening attentively- as Sam and Levy walked up to them. "Pretty smart, right?" the red-haired boy chirped. "That's not all though!" Sam exclaimed. Derick raised one eyebrow questioningly. "Here, Kendall has drawn an image of the old man who we met yesterday. This will help us identify him when we go to Limbo later on today." The three boys flashed a massive smile at Derick, who was surprised, "How did you come up with this scheme overnight? And that drawing... who knew you were a talented artist Kendall?" For once, he wore a smile on his face. "I'm in."

Once school was over, they all took the bus home and ran to their parents. "I'm going to the park with my friends!" Each and every one of them had told their parents. In response, they either received an "Okay, see you later!" or "Have fun!" before they grabbed their bikes and headed off to meet up at the bus stop. "Got the mags?" Kendall gave Derick a thumbs up. "How about the pho-" Kendall interrupted his friend, "Got that!" Levy chimed in, "I think we've got everything we need!" Everyone looked at the boy with the red hair. "What are we waiting for! Let's go!" The four boys raced down the long street cycling out of town and reaching Limbo in only fifteen minutes. "We're here." Sam mumbled to himself. Levy's eyes widened as he realised something. "Who's gonna watch our bikes?" he looked around but there was no place to put the two-wheeled vehicle and the boys did not have a lock for their bicycles on them. Everyone groaned in frustration. "Since you mentioned it, I think it's fair you watch over our bikes," Kendall replied. Before his friend could complain, he quickly added, "But you'll be with us, watching us negotiate." In frustration, Levy rolled his eyes, but he accepted and the four of them continued to move until they reached the exact spot they were in the day before.

Kendall took his backpack ff of his back and searched for the picture he drew. Once he found it, he looked up and there he was. The same man on his piece of paper in flesh. "Hey! You!" The man kept walking as if he didn't hear Kendall call him. "Hey!" he called again, sprinting to him. "Don't you remember me?" For a second, he looked lost but then realised it was the boy he met yesterday. "Oh, it's you! Oh kid," he paused, looking around him and started talking again, "Still got any of those mags on you?" Derick smiled, "We've got a whole load." Once he heard the boy's reply, the customer fished his wallet out of his pocket and started looking for any money he could find. "Here, here! Take this! And I'll have two magazines!" All four of them wore a smug expression on their faces until Levy reminded the stranger, "But... where are the other bunch of customers you promised us?" He smiled at them, grabbed his phone and called someone. "Bring em here. You know the place." Then, he hung up and looked at the boys, who were now the ones looking confused. "Sorry about that, had to make a quick phone call," the boys glared at him, "As you can tell." he hastily added. "Anyway, your customers should be here in around 2 minutes."

The five of them waited in an awkward silence, Levy silently struggling to hold all four of his friends' bikes and Kendall closed the backpack before putting it back on his back. Suddenly, a roar erupted- it was the sound of motorcycles ripping through the street. "Ah, they're here!" the stranger exclaimed. The young boys watched on, very interested by what they were seeing. "Whoa!" Kendall mumbled. Sam gawked and Derick rubbed his hands together in a sinister manner. "So, meet my friends- your new customers!" the man said confidently. One of them began asking him a question, probably doubting the boys, but they couldn't hear what he was saying very well- only a few words. "Why are they... Troy..." he whispered. "So, it turns out that guy's name is Troy..." Derick muttered under his breath. "I wonder what the other guy is saying to Troy," Sam whispered in Kendall's ear and his friend nodded. "Kendall..." Levy said quietly, "Take your backpack off your back." He mouthed the sentence, doing actions and gestures to show what he meant. Once he realised what his companion meant, the boy slowly took the bag off of his back and waited for one of the people- not Troy- to say something.

"Show us what you got." It was the same man who was saying something into Troy's ear just minutes before. His face was expressionless and, to Kendall, he looked kind of scary and the fact that he was stroking his brunet beard with a smirk on his face did not help. "Y-yes, of course!" the boy with the magazines stuttered._ 'Why did I stutter?' _he thought to himself and shook his head in frustration. He fumbled with the zip before opening the bag. "Interested in any of these?" Kendall said feeling quite smug. The group of men whispered and muttered amongst themselves, clearly in shock. "H-How did you get your filthy hands on those?" the man questioned. "That I won't tell you, but believe me- your hands are the filthiest here." Derick remarked, pointing at the bearded man's hands. Unsurprisingly, his nails had a dirt in them and his hands were indeed very filthy.

Everyone erupted with laughter as his face turned a deep-red- from either embarrassment, anger or even _both_. "Shut up!" Troy shouted, causing everyone to be quiet immediately. "So, how much are you selling these for?" The boys had forgotten about discussing the new price. "Excuse us..." Sam said. The quartet began discussing the price. "We said $15 last time, so should we say that again?" Kendall whispered. Derick, acting as if he was their leader (though he considered himself to be) uttered to the boys, "More sales to make here. More money to make. We're gonna increase the price a little bit- twenty bucks." They all nodded in agreement and stood in front of the men once again. "Twenty dollars. _Per magazine_." They whispered to each other but Troy raised a finger and they stopped. "You only charged me fifteen dollars yest-" "But you paid us fifty." Kendall interrupted, raising an eyebrow and smirking.

Troy looked flustered and irritated, "You didn't tell us this!" MQ, who was the guy with the brown beard and dirty hands, exclaimed and the rest of the men hummed in agreement. "We can discuss that later but let's buy these first. We don't have time to be fooling around and bickering" Troy sighed and looked at the four young boys. "Okay then. How many have you got?" Kendall nodded, "Twenty-eight." MQ nodded slowly and waited for Troy to speak. "Well how about, we take the whole stock for double your price? So, $1120?" Derick's eyes lit up. "Deal!" The sun was starting to sink lower and lower into in the horizon. "Let's make this quick," Kendall said, glaring at them darkly. He emptied the contents of the backpack and handed all twenty-eight magazines to MQ as Troy handed over the money that amounted to more than a thousand dollars.

Full of excitement, Kendall quickly stuffed the paper money into his backpack, making sure not to miss a single note.. "Nice doing business with you," Derick said, grabbing his bike from Levy, who sat there uninterested and stretched once all of his friends got their bikes back. "Likewise," Troy replied before he and the group of tall men got on their motorbikes and left the area. "Well aren't we loaded?" Kendall smiled. "If we do the maths, that's 280 dollars per person today," Levy said. "Human calculator!" Sam exclaimed, rolling his eyes. "Guys, we should get going before it gets dark," the raven haired boy said, reminding his friends. "Yeah, we're out of time!" Kendall said, as the sun shone, halfway up in the sky. The boys jumped onto their bikes and raced against time to reach their town and surprisingly, they made it in only ten minutes.

Must have been because they were so concentrated on getting home on time. They stopped off at Kendall's house and were greeted by his mom. "Hey boys! How was the park?" All of them wore bright smiles on their faces, "Great!" "Fantastic!" "Awesome!" "Amazing" They all shouted at the same time before bursting out laughing. His mum smiled, "That's great boys! You must be hungry though!" Kendall shook his head, "Not really, actually. I think I can wait until dinner," and his friends nodded in agreement. "Suit yourselves!" she replied as the boys walked passed her and ran into the stairs to Kendall's room. They began whispering, just to make sure no one was listening in their conversation. "Should we split the money now?" Sam asked. "We don't have our backpacks dummy! How are we meant to hide it and sneak it into our own houses?" Levy sharply whispered to him. As a response, Sam rolled his eyes, "I guess you've got a point. How about tomorrow after school we go straight here and collect the money?" Everyone nodded in agreement, "But bring like a secret money box or something." Derick added.

Once that conversation was over, they started talking about random things, school, YouTube channels and random videos- anything really. "I think we should get going before our parents start worrying about us." Levy said, reminding the boys of the time. "Yeah," Sam agreed. "Mhm," Derick hummed. The three of them said their goodbyes to Kendall and went downstairs to say goodbye to Kendall's mom. "Bye!" she waved. Levy, Derick and Sam left the house and got on their bicycles. The sky was a warm orange as the sun sank deeper and deeper into the horizon. Sam smiled as he watched the sun set. Sighing, he began riding his bike and spoke with he two other boys until they parted ways and entered their own houses.

"Hey Mom, I'm back!" Levy exclaimed. "Levy! How are you?" his mom asked him, wrapping two arms around him and hugging her son. "I'm great!" The red-haired boy embraced his mom until his dad walked in, "Hey Levy!" he smiled, "Seems like everyone's had a great day I see!" he continued, Levy's dad also joined the hug and they stayed like that for a few minutes before his son complained that he couldn't breathe. "Sorry!" his mom smiled. "I 'm gonna lie down now. I've been running and cycling for far too long!" Levy laughed, escaping from his overly cheerful parents. Meanwhile, Sam got off his bike and walked into the house with the two-wheeled vehicle. "Hi Sam! Welcome home!" his mom greeted him, not really paying too much attention to him. "Hey Mom," he replied half-heartedly with a hint of cheerfulness in his voice. He continued walking in the house, putting his bicycle where he usually puts it and ran up the stairs to his room, sighing with relief once he flopped onto his bed. When Derick got home, he was greeted by his father, "Hello son!" The boy politely greeted him, not attempting to hide his joy. He placed his bike next to him, making it lean to the wall and made his way to his room. " Two hundred and eighty dollars. Nice..."


	8. Chapter 8: Where is he

It was Friday and for the boys, it was payday, They prepared their bags for school as usual and also put in a small box to put their money in. All of them were excited, this is it- but it's trying to keep it a secret from their parents that would be difficult. Seeming as Kendall had the money in his backpack, he took that as a chance to take out his and put it in his secret money box, leaving the rest of the money for the other three boys. Levy walked to the bus stop and sat down, Kendall arriving shortly afterwards. "Hey Levy!" He greeted, excitement obvious in his voice. Sharing the same excitement, the red-haired boy said hello to his friend. "Where are Derick and Sam?" Kendall dismissed this friend's question, "they're probably running late or something," and he was right- about Sam. Derick, on the other hand, didn't show up at all.

If he was sick or something, he would usually say he wouldn't come but not today. The three of them got on the bus, chatting amongst themselves and wondering where the hell their other friend was. "Sam, have you seen Derick today?" Shaking his head, the black-haired boy answered the question, "I haven't... But guys, let's wait a little bit before we start to worry and stress ourselves out.

Keep our suspicions- but worry later when there's no sign of him." They nodded in agreement and changed the topic- getting their money. "So, Kendall, how are we gonna collect the money?" Levy whispered, looking around to make sure no one else was listening. "After school, we'll go to my place together and collect it," he answered bluntly. The boy looked lost and anxious, zoning out on multiple occasions while the other two friends kept talking about random things. "I hope he hasn't done anything stupid..." he muttered to himself.

When the boys arrived at the school building, there was still no sign of Derick- and that was quite unusual. During registration, he didn't randomly walk in and apologise for being late. He didn't even come in to school at all!

"Where _is_ he?" Sam asked, not to anyone in particular. The three of them were sitting in the cafeteria eating their lunch and trying to work out where their friend could be. The other two boys didn't know how to respond except, "I don't know!" and shrug their shoulders. Once again, the subject was changed back to the money Sam and Levy were supposed to collect that day and it was then Kendall's eyes widened. "Limbo...Limbo...he's probably in Limbo" he muttered to himself.

To his two friends, it just sounded like incoherent mumbling under his breath. "Huh? What are you trying to say Kendall?" Levy responded, "All_ I_ heard was gibberish if I'm being honest. But I mainly heard Kendall say, "limlom " or something like that." At first Sam looked really confused. "_Limlom_? Really? What the hell is that?" Once he realised what he said to the red-haired boy, his eyes widened, making a dramatic face. "OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH! That's what you mean! Silly us!" Sam laughed strangely, scratching the back of his neck. He widened his eyes and nodded at Levy but he _still _did not get what he was trying to say.

"What?" Sam rested his palm on his forehead in annoyance. "Limbo!" he whispered loudly into the red-haired boy's ear. "Oh," was his response. "So, how are we gonna meet up with him _without _his parents getting suspicious?" Sam sat there, thinking about it for a few minutes before Kendall finally spoke again, "You could just not _tell _them? We can just grab our bikes and head off to Limbo. But we can't all meet up at one of our houses. Just say we left our bikes at home and wanted to ride them- also Derick has a skateboard he sometimes takes so he probably took it with him to get to Limbo in the first place. We have to go home, get the bikes and meet in the park- just so we don't lose each other- before setting off."

The boy smiled after explaining his plan and both of his friends nodded but still looked at him dissatisfied. "What?" Kendall asked raising an eyebrow questioningly. "Aren't we supposed to collect our money today...?" Sam's statement had turned into a question. "YES!" his friend snapped, "Also, what is with your obsession about the money. It's not like I'm gonna _steal _it, am I?" The boys whimpered and decided to keep quiet for the rest of the journey as their friend, who had just had a go at them, was calming down. Once the bus had reached their bus stop, they got off and walked together to the park in complete silence before parting ways to go to their own houses.

All three of them entered the house, greeting their parents glumly and ignoring them when they asked what the problem was. "It was just a bad day" or "I'm not in the mood to talk about it" They responded to stop the adults from questioning them even further. Kendall ran to his bedroom to put the money in his backpack before coming back downstairs and grabbing the two-wheeled vehicle and leaving the house. Sam and Levy kept their backpacks on and just took their bicycles before heading off to the park.

Ten minutes later, the three boys met up again at the park and it was clear the silence was still continuing. "Here. Take it," Kendall said as he handed over the money with a frown on his face. Happily, the two boys took the sum of money and quickly stashed it in their bags. After that, another silencd followed. "Race you to Limbo!" Levy exclaimed, expecting his two friends to begin riding speedily through the streets. Instead, they stood there glaring at each other with anger. "Can't you two just cut it out? This _really_ isn't necessary you know!" Kendall and Sam looked at him with no interest with what he was saying. "You have a friend to be looking for.

Don't you think that's more important than bickering like a pair of babies?" Levy had lost complete control and anger had overtaken him. To him, it was obvious they were only worried about themselves and planning everything rather than their missing friend. "But-" Kendall began to say but Levy could not stop himself from interrupting. "Don't. I don't wanna hear it! Let's just go and look for Derick.

Clear?" There was an awkward silence. "Crystal." Only Sam has replied, Kendall on the other hand was scowling at the pair. "I'm not gonna repeat myself Kendall..." With that, he finally responded, "Ugh, _fine!" _and rolled his eyes as Levy began to smile again. "Let's get going then. We don't have long!" The three of them began cycling at the fastest speed they could, until their legs were sore and ached terribly and fortunately they made it in just less than ten minutes.

Once they'd got there, not a single person was in sight. The road was empty and there was no sign of Derick or even Troy who was always here everyday for a couple hours- at this time. As worry started to kick in, the group of three rode through Limbo. There wasn't much, not many houses (there were just a few scattered around in random places) and not even a supermarket or park or anything you'd usually find in a town.

They kept cycling, looking left and right every two seconds and eventually, they heard a faint noise of someone laughing. While Sam and Levy didn't think much about it, Kendall couldn't help but keep thinking about the noise. Maybe the person could help the trio find Derick. "Guys..." he called. The other two boys looked at him blankly, waiting for their friend to continue with what he was saying. "How about, we knock on the door and ask them to help is find Derick.

Luckily for them, who they were looking was less than 400 meters away from them. The bad news was he was talking to none other than Troy and MQ. They cycled to them and to their shock, the three boys found an unknown man and their two customers laughing at what seemed to be their jokes or stories- "Something isn't right here..." Kendall whispered to the pair riding on either side of him.

"We've got to see who that is," Sam muttered before closely inspecting the strange man's clothes. He was wearing glasses (most likely sunglasses), a black baseball cap, faded blue jeans and a black top. It couldn't be Derick though. He never wore caps and never _ever _wore glasses of any kind. "Sorry to break it you guys, but I don't think that's him," the black-haired boy sighed. The other two boys told him to shut up as they eavesdropped on the conversation. As the three men around 400 meters away, continued laughing and joking, Levy couldn't help notice that he recognised the voice of the third person. "Sam, Kendall. I think we've found Derick..."

Kendall stopped and looked at him in disbelief as Sam shook his head slightly. "Just look at him! Derick would never wear that. _Never. _So, it's got to be someone else." Kendall nodded in agreement but stayed silent as he squinted to look at the mysterious person in more detail. "Now that I think about it, there's a chance that could be Derick..." Kendall murmured. "Wait for him to talk again," Levy commanded, "then we'll definitely know if it's Derick or not." The three of them remained quiet, waiting for this other person to speak and once he opened his mouth and said a couple of words, they knew it was Derick. "It's him. It's certainly him," Kendall said. "So what exactly should we do?" the red-haired boy asked his two friends.

Sam thought for a minute, "we should just walk up to them." The boy sounded calm and shrugged his shoulders as if he'd forgotten that Troy and MQ were still stangers and potentially dangerous. In return, Kendall and Levy glared at times and that was enough to shut him up. "Does anyone have any other ideas then?" the boy with the red hair asked while rolling his eyes. To their misfortune, none of them had any ideas or thoughts. "Looks like we're gonna have to do what you suggested Sam," Kendall grumbled. He took a deep breath in and exhaled, "Let's go, boys."

The trio approached the other group of three and they all looked surprised to see them. They had stood next to Derick and stared at Troy and MQ intensely. "What are you doing here!" The fourth boy whispered sharply. "I guess we can approached skills you them same question too Derick," Kendall quietly remarked, raising his eyebrows. All of a sudden, Troy began clapping slowly.

"Well, well, well. Look who's decided to show up!" he smirked and Sam instantly knew there was something behind that mischievous smile. "Looks like Derick over here couldn't stop them from tagging along!" MQ laughed in a sinister way. _'We need to get out of here'_ Levy thought to himself. He shared the same thoughts as Sam and Kendall but Derick, on the other hand, did not. He was willing to stay until he had to go back home even though he had already spent hours there and skipped school.

Derick suddenly felt someone tug and pull his arm. "We need to leave now," Sam stated. Derick scoffed as the rest of them tried to convince them to go back with them home. "It's getting late you know..." The other boy paused, "I'll tell them I had an after school project thing and I had to walk because the bus broke down," he shrugged. Triumphantly, Levy opposed his friend's point, "But you don't do anything after school and there are no projects to be working on!" Derick looked down at his feet while clenching his fists.

"So, I suggest we hurry up and get the hell out of here before our parents get worried. Consider yourself lucky I'm not a snitch," Kendall spat. Giving in to his friends' persuasion, Derick got onto his skateboard as the other boys got onto their bikes, "Let's go." They raced down the street as fast as they could, trying to get home as the sun sank lower and lower into the horizon. "I know this isn't a good time to ask," Kendall began, "but what were you doing for the whole day in Limbo?"

Everyone stopped moving and Kendall looked at his friend. They had been cycling for around five minutes and were almost home- only a few blocks away- so he guessed he had time to ask. "You don't need to-" It was then, when the other boy erupted. "Don't "You don't need to know" me! I _need _to know! What the hell were you doing in Limbo today? And _why _would you bunk off for it?" Fortunately, Sam and Levy stopped their agitated friend before his could end up having an entire lecture.

Unable to contain his anger, Derick got off of his skateboard and walked to Kendall. "I _said_, YOU DON'T NEED TO KNOW!" he yelled before raising his hand and slapping the boys cheek. In retaliation, Kendall punched Derick and watched him stumble backwards. Looking at each other, Levy and Sam knew they need to split them apart. The boy with the red hair took Derick away whilst Sam took Kendall away. "Let's make our own way home," Levy mouthed. Once both pairs could no longer see each other, the witnesses of the fight were quick to scold them.

"Why would you slap him? Are you crazy!" Levy started. "If you just answered the question, which even I wanna know the answer to by the way, _maybe _this wouldn't have happened!" he sighed and kept cycling, leaving an awkward silence between them. Meanwhile, Sam took a more soft approach with Kendall. "I understand what Derick did wasn't right but you can't force him to tell you everything. Just wait, he'll eventually tell us, although we'll have to watch out in case he goes back to Limbo by himself," he said, cutting his eyes. "Retaliation. I know it's kind of automatic- you just do it. But don't do it. Please?" Kendall looked at his black haired friend- Sam had a point but he kind of didn't want to admit that his friend was right.

Instead, similar to Levy and Derick, they rode the rest of the journey home in complete silence. Once they had reached each other's houses, Levy and Sam dropped them off before riding to their own houses. Luckily, it was just before sunset and they had the same excuse in mind... "We went to the park after school," they both told their parents. However, Levy wasn't hesitated to go into a bit more detail, "We had a small argument though so... we are home a bit later?" it came out as a question, rather than a statement but Levy's mom and dad didn't think too much of it.

"Oh well, I know you boys very well. I'm sure you'll sort it out among yourselves!" she stated, going back to whatever she was doing before shortly afterwards. _'Let's hope you're right about that, Mom,' _the boy thought to himself. He put his two-wheeled vehicle away and ran up the stairs to his room. _'I wonder what's going on with everyone else...'_

When Sam returned home, he greeted his mom and acted as if nothing had happened just minutes before. "Hi Mom!" he smiled and waved after putting his bike where he usually kept it. "How was your day son?" Sam had told her everything- except Limbo and the tension that broke out between Derick and Kendall. "After school we just went to the park and chilled there. It was just the norm."

He shrugged his shoulders before heading straight to his room and leaving his mom do to what she was doing before he walked in. When Derick and Kendall arrived in, they both had the most sour expression on their faces. "Hey..." Kendall said half-heartedly. "Not a good day today?" his mom asked taking a look at him. "What's that on your face?" she asked whilst reaching out to stroke his red cheek.

"I'm not in the mood right now mom!" With that he got past her and quickly made his way to his room. "BUT YOU BETTER TELL ME TOMORROW!" his mom yelled. Kendall sighed and sat on his bed, staring at the ceiling. "But you better tell me tomorrow!" he mimicked. "It's not gonna happen Mom." He grabbed a piece of paper and drew whatever he felt like. The pencil was swiftly moving from side to side, corner to corner. It didn't take long for him to finish and look at it. "This isn't good..."

"Deri- oh. I see you're not in the mood. Okay, I'll talk to you once you've calmed down." Derick's mom knew when her son was angry, you don't pester him with questions. She walked off and left Derick in the room. "Why is he so _nosy_? Ugh, what have I gotten myself into!" He covered his face with his hands and rubbed his eyes, though no tears were falling down.

He went into the kitchen and opened the fridge door to get himself a snack to eat before stomping up the stairs to his room and sitting on his bed and eating his snack. "We can trust them," he muttered to himself, "so I don't really see what Kendall's problem is! I've got my eyes on the prize and nothing will stop me- not Kendall, not Sam, not Levy, nobody." He took another bite of the food in his hand. His fists were clenched and there was anger written all over his face as his eye twitched ever so slightly.


End file.
